Fairy Tail: The Darkness Rises
by marcus00721
Summary: Six months after the final events in Flames of Friendship; things seem peaceful, including the rivalry between Fiore's top guilds. But, among all this peace, the darkness from before, is nothing compared to what will happen soon...
1. Chapter 1

X792; six months (February) after the event called Fiore's End. Peace has returned to the land of Fiore, and all the guilds within the country have returned to their normal business; and of course, the constant bickering between two of Fiore's strongest guilds, Fairy Tail and White Eclipse. Although relations between the two guilds weren't as hostile as before, the tension still remained nonetheless.

.

.

Natsu eyed the request board inside the Fairy Tail guild, looking for a request that seemed challenging for the fire dragon slayer. "Hm…" Natsu's eyes continued to scan the board, not seeing anything to his interest.

Lucy walked over to Natsu, eying the board along with him. "What's wrong, Natsu?" Lucy asked, shifting her gaze over to the slightly disappointed dragon slayer.

Natsu turned to Lucy, letting out a soft sigh. "There's nothing interesting to do on this board."

"Nothing to do?" Lucy crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the floor before gasping suddenly. "My rent!"

"Eh?" Natsu raised an eyebrow at Lucy's sudden gasp.

"My rent! I almost forgot I had to pay it off soon!" Lucy flailed slightly, feeling glad she managed to catch this before she completely forgot.

"You STILL have to pay rent?" Natsu gave a sigh before turning back to the request board. "I guess we can just do the highest paying job then."

"Aye!" Happy said in agreement.

A girl with long black hair, and sky blue eyes approached the trio. The girl was also wearing a green sleeveless shirt, black denim pants, and black boots to top it off. This was the Omega Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail, Cynthia Rose. "Oh, going on a job!?" Cynthia said with sparkles in her eyes. "It's been a while since I've gone out, can I join you two!?"

"Sure thing!" Lucy gave a happy nod of agreement. "I don't mind, do you, Natsu?"

"Nope, it's fine with me!" Natsu nodded twice, turning his head to see Erza and Gray walking out. "Oi, Erza!" Natsu called out, causing the scarlet haired requip mage to turn around at the sound of his voice. Natsu walked over to Erza and Gray, raising an eyebrow. "Where are you two going?"

"On an S class job," Erza replied with a nod.

"You're taking Gray?" Natsu asked with a huff.

"I think his abilities may be useful for this particular job," Erza replied.

"Heh, you hear that, Natsu?" Gray started with a cocky tone and smirk, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Now's not the time to start another fight, Gray," Erza said with a stern tone, causing Gray to shape up immediately, sweat beading down his forehead as he nodded a few times. "Anyway, you seem like you're about to go on a job yourself?"

"Oh, yeah," Natsu nodded, pointing over to Lucy, Happy, and Cynthia. "We're gonna go find something to do so Lucy can pay her rent off for this month."

"Ah, I see. Well, good luck with your mission," Erza said with a faint smile before her and Gray stepped out of the guild.

"What's this job about?" Gray asked as he placed his hands behind his back.

"There's something the requester wants us to retrieve from some place," Erza replied.

From behind a support beam, Juvia glared as she watched Erza and Gray step out, an imaginary scenario playing in her head about Erza and Gray falling in love with each other, immediately causing her face to turn blue just from the thought of it. It was at the moment that Juvia decided that Erza wasn't to be trusted alone with Gray. "Erza-san thinks she can steal Gray-sama away from Juvia…" Juvia nodded to herself, quickly making her way out of the door, making sure to say behind and out of sight for Gray and Erza.

"…That girl worries me sometimes…" Alzack said with a faint laugh.

"You and me both…" Cynthia said while holding Alzack's daughter, Asuka, in her arms. "Did I ever mention how adorable your daughter is?!"

Alzack let out a chuckle before looking over to Bisca. "Well, she did get her looks from her mother."

"Oh stop it, you," Bisca said with a grin.

"…I'm getting out of here before this gets gross…" Cynthia placed Asuka down, and then proceeded to skip over to Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and now Wendy, who was holding Carla in her arms. "Oh, Wendy, Carla, you're coming too?"

"Mhm!" Wendy nodded, giving a large grin. "Natsu-san and Lucy-san invited me."

"And of course, I have to watch Wendy," Carla nodded.

"Understandable, yes," Cynthia nodded before looking over at the group. "What's the mission?"

Lucy brought the flyer up, paraphrasing the description. "Basically, we have to find project a shipment of something until it gets to the factory in the eastern mountains."

"Eastern?" Wendy tilted her head a bit.

"…That means we'll have to travel by train, doesn't it?" Cynthia groaned.

"Unfortunately…" Natsu sighed, his face going pale along with Cynthia's as the very thought of motion sickness made the pair sick.

"I'd cast Troia on you both if you hadn't already gained immunity to it…" Wendy sighed, frowning slightly, wishing she could be of more help to the two.

"Come on, you two! The sooner we get started, the sooner we can leave!" Lucy nodded.

"Yeah, yeah…let's make this quick…" Cynthia groaned.

"Mira, we're taking this one!" Lucy walked over to the bar, showing Mirajane the job.

"Alright, good luck, you guys!" Mirajane nodded as a sweet smile sew its way onto her features.

"Thanks!" Lucy nodded, walking out the door with Natsu, Happy, Cynthia, Wendy, and Carla.

.

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In the northern mountains of Fiore rested the self-proclaimed strongest guild in the country, White Eclipse. Over the last six months, the guild experienced the loss of a few of its members, such as Hanako and Azeleon, but gained a few new members as well. The new member list included a girl chestnut colored hair and light brown eyes, currently in a green top, and wore black pants, currently resting on the couch with a glass of wine between her fingers. This girl was Skye Ravenwood, who joined White Eclipse just recently. The other girl was in the kitchen, happily munching on a box of Wheat Thins; she also had long white hair tied into a pony tail, reaching down to her waist. This girl was the Angelic Takeover mage of White Eclipse, Kairi Ayes. The final new member White Eclipse received was certainly the most unique of the three. A tall, well-built male reaching well over six feet stood outside, gazing up at a tower just behind the guild. This male had snow-white hair, blue eyes, black leather gloves, a large blue shirt that fit someone like him perfectly, large blue jeans, and large boots. The strongest ice mage in all of Fiore, or as White Eclipse usually calls him, Adamantine, Adam for short.

"Hm…" The brown-haired mage, Luke Cloud, also known as the infamous copy mage, walked to the request board, wearing his standard clothing as he eyed the request board. "What's the job we can go on today…?"

Skye's ears perked up from the sound of a voice, sitting up to see who it was. "Hm? Luke?"

Luke turned at the sound of his name called, and he simply waved over to Skye, giving a half-smile. "Oh, hey, Skye."

"Looking for something?" Skye asked.

"Ah, just a job for Heather and I to do in a bit," Luke nodded twice after he spoke. A few minutes later, a tall, slender male with black hair, blue eyes, a white tee, black pants and boots walked down the stairs. This was the cocky gunslinger of White Eclipse, one of the guild's original mages, and one of their S class mages, Reve Volver. Following behind Reve, a shorter male with brown hair, green eyes with glasses atop them, and wearing a fancy suit to top it off came down; White Eclipse's construction mage and one of the guild's original members, Zalen Castle. Reve held a flyer in his hands as he strolled down the chairs.

"Nii-san!" Skye said in a happy tone, directing her voice towards Reve.

The gunslinger blinked, raising a brow as he turned to face Skye. "…What?"

Skye ignored Reve's question as she pointed to the flyer in his hands. "What's that?"

"This? An S class job, of course," Reve replied. "Zalen and I are gonna take this one, so we'll be back soon."

"See you guys!" Zalen said as he and Reve walked out the door.

"No attitude today? Lucky break…" Luke sighed before eventually pulling off a job with a content smile. "I think this'll do…" A few moments later, the poison dragon slayer known as Heather strolled into the main room of the guild, looking over towards Luke. Heather had long vanilla blonde hair that reached down to her lower back, hazel eyes, along with an outfit consisting of a long sleeve white shirt, blue shorts, and sneakers.

"Did you find a job?" Heather asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot on the ground.

Luke nodded, hoisting a small bag over his shoulders. "Yup, got one right here. Just follow me and I'll explain it to you."

"Alright," Heather nodded, simply following Luke out the front doors.

.

.

Mermaid Heel, the guild that only contained women, was actually quite quiet lately. The strongest mage in Mermaid Heel, Kagura Mikazuchi, was just returning from an S class job, keeping quiet to herself as she strolled through the town Mermaid Heel was located in. "Hm…" The woman kept quiet the entire time, occasionally shifting her eyes around to see what was happening around her, but since nothing of interest was going on, she decided to keep on walking. Before she could reach her guild, she spotted a female limping through the streets, leaning against a wall for support. "What…?" Kagura walked over to the female, asking in a monotonous tone, as she wasn't really one to show any kind of emotion to those she didn't know. "Are you alright?"

"I-I don't know…" The female coughed into her hand, getting small droplets of blood onto it. The female had silver hair and red eyes, sporting an outfit of thick black jeans, a black jacket, and black boots. Her body was covered in all sorts of injuries, and she was bleeding from the side of her head; this was a clear sign to Kagura that the female was not okay.

"You're terribly wounded…what's your name…?" Kagura asked, placing an arm around the female's shoulders as she supported her, slowly making her way back to Mermaid Heel to give the girl medical treatment.

"That's the only thing aside from my magic I do remember…" The silver-haired female responded, slowly walking alongside Kagura. "My name is Melody Silver…"

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Sabertooth, the former strongest guild in Fiore after X791's Grand Magic Games; the new guild master, the White Dragon Slayer, Sting Eucliffe, sighed, looking around what was left of the former guild. Though he, Rogue Cheney, Orga Nanagear, Rufus Lohr, and Yukino Aguria were ready to change the name of Sabertooth for the better. Nothing of interest was happening, so Orga decided he would take a job to pass some time. He eyed the request board until an interesting job request caught his eye. "Eh…?" Orga promptly took the job off the board, eying it intensively.

"Something wrong, Orga?" Sting asked, walking over to the Lightning God Slayer.

"Nothing's wrong, Sting. This is just an interesting job," Orga replied with a nod, showing Sting the paper.

"God slayers only, huh? Western part of Fiore, too?" Sting read, scratching the top of his head. "You'll be able to handle it!"

"Because…" Orga started, grabbing a microphone from nowhere, immediately singing horridly into the microphone. "SABERTOOTH IS NUMBER ONE!" Orga's off key voice forced the other four members of the guild to cover their ears, yet they just gave a simple smile to the ecstatic lightning god slayer, who promptly exited the guild right after.

"He needs to work on his singing…" Yukino said with a sheepish smile on her face.

.

.

Things were oddly quiet in Lamia, Scale. The only ones really around in the guild were the dynamic ice make mage, Lyon Vastia, and the Sky God Slayer, Chelia Blendy; though Lyon was asleep, so he didn't really provided Chelia with much company. Instead, the young girl simply hopped over to the request board, eying anything she could possibly do to pass the time until either more people arrived or Lyon woke up. She scanned the board for a few moments before a particular job caught her eye, and she picked it off the board, reading it slowly. "God Slayers, huh…? Western part of Fiore…Alright!" Chelia nodded, turning to tell Lyon she was leaving, but remembered he was asleep, so she quietly exited the guild, skipping towards her destination.

From the shadows, a hooded figure watched as Chelia exited the guild. Within seconds, another hooded figure appeared next to the first. "Did the other one accept?" The first figure asked, their voice feminine, yet threatening at the same time; not towards the other figure, but it was just a natural tone for her.

"Yes, we have both the Sky God Slayer and the Lightning God Slayer on route to the destination," The second figure replied, their voice obviously masculine, but it didn't hold the same threatening tone as the female's voice.

"Good job, Blake…" The female said, a dark smirk painting her face. "We'll see how strong those two god slayers really are…"

"Indeed, Diana," Blake replied, nodding in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2: Job Fever

"Hm…" Selene walked around the White Eclipse guild, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked around the area. Her appearance was much different than that of half a year ago. Her petite figure was still the same, along with the scar that ran over her left eye; a major difference, however, her turquoise hair had gotten much longer, and had few traces of curls within it.

"Looking for something, Selene?" The cheerful blonde wind mage of White Eclipse, Aira Aeolus asked.

"Aira? When did you…?" Selene blinked a few times, shrugging off Aira's sudden appearance. "I've been looking for Tak, but I haven't seen him anywhere…"

"Oh, he went somewhere with Arc!" Nami interjected, nodding from the other side of the main area.

"Tak and Arc went out…?" The master of White Eclipse, Calium, asked, walking into the room with his staff in hand, almost using it as a cane.

"Mhm!" Nami nodded, pointing to the door. "They left just a few hours ago."

"Coincidentally…" Tayakata started while speaking from the spot upstairs reserved for S class wizards and above. "About four S class jobs have gone missing…"

Calium's eye twitched, causing those around him to take a few steps back. Though old, Calium's temper was not one to be trifled with, and breaking a simple rule was something that usually brought out a small part of this often unseen anger. "Those two are in so much trouble when they get back…"

.

.

In the skies in an unknown part of Fiore, the Shadow Dragon Slayer Takeru was riding on Arcturus' back while he flew, raising his hand into the air, showing a hint…more so a bundle of excitement, something not many people really saw in Takeru due to his distant nature; but he and Arc shared a brotherly relationship, so it was a privilege for Arc to see Takeru in such a fashion. "Excited, are we?" Arc asked with a hint of a smile on his face, the bandages on his eyes obscuring his sight, but he seemed to know where to go nonetheless.

"These four jobs seem challenging, I love a challenge," Takeru replied. "I'm sure M.C wouldn't mind."

"I don't think he's the one you have to worry about…" Arc replied.

"…We'll take our time," Takeru replied, knowing the person Arc was referring to.

"Hm…" Was Arc's response at first as his wings flapped in the wind. "Where are we going to do the first one?"

"Southern Fiore," Takeru replied, nodding a few times.

"Alright, hang on," Arc said, shifting his direction so he would be heading south.

.

.

"I'm having second thoughts about this!" Cynthia said as Lucy practically had to drag the reluctant Dragon Slayer onto the train they were going to protect.

"It's just a train!" Lucy said, completely forgetting why Cynthia was so reluctant to board in the first place.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Cynthia cried out, clinging to the outside of the train as best she could.

"The train's leaving soon," Carla commented, assisting Lucy in trying to pry Cynthia off. After about ten seconds, they succeeded, and the three fell inside the train, creating "Thud" sound once they all hit the floor.

"You'll be fine, Cynthia!" Wendy nodded a few times.

"Natsu's already sick…" Cynthia pointed to Natsu, who was sitting by the window; his eyes were already pure white, his face pale, and he was groaning while Happy attempted to fan him using a piece of paper. "Looking at him like that makes me sick…" Cynthia took a seat, Wendy right beside her. Cynthia placed her head on Wendy's lap and groaned, "I hate this…"

"T-…The train hasn't even started moving…" Wendy replied with a classic anime sweat drop on the side of her head.

"Doesn't matter…!" Natsu interjected, placing his head on Lucy's lap once she sat down next to him.

"What kinda dragon slayer gets motion sickness from a stationary vehicle…?" Luke asked as he and Heather boarded the train. Though she was a dragon slayer, Heather seemed perfectly fine on the stationary train.

"Luke…" Lucy scoffed, diverting her attention to Natsu.

"Oh yeah, okay, that's how you're gonna act to someone who nearly died for you, okay," Luke scoffed, crossing his arms as he walked to a seat, Heather following behind.

"LET IT GO ALREADY!" Lucy shouted.

"NEVER!" Luke replied, taking a seat on the area just behind the Fairy Tail wizards, and Heather sat across from him. Luke raised an eyebrow, looking over at Heather. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

Heather nodded, crossing her arms as she leaned back in the seat. "Just fine."

"I assume they have the same mission," Carla said to her group.

"Of course…" Lucy sighed.

"You could be a little more grateful, you know…" Cynthia groaned.

"Not when he acts like that!" Lucy replied with a huff.

"What are we protecting anyway, Lucy-san?" Wendy asked, keeping her eyes down on Cynthia.

"They wouldn't say…" Lucy replied. "They said it was classified information, but I don't think it's anything bad."

"What if it's tons and tons of fish?!" Happy said, his eyes sparkling from excitement.

"…Why would they not tell us they have fish?" Carla asked, crossing her arms as she raised a brow towards the fellow Exceed.

"I know if it were me, I wouldn't tell ANYONE I had so much fish!" Happy nodded, keeping to his fantasy about the boundless fish that were to be protected, and hopefully consumed later on by no one other than himself. Eventually the train started to move, causing Natsu and Cynthia to groan even louder.

Luke peered from his seat, barely able to hide the small smile of amusement as he watched the two dragon slayers groaning. He then looked over at Heather, his smile fading as he saw her failed attempt at acting as though she was fine. Her face was blue, and she swayed slightly in her seat, holding back any sound that would indicate she was suffering. "You okay…?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Y-Yup….perfectly fine…" Heather said slowly, not allowing even the tiniest of groans to escape her lips. "Let's just…hurry up and get this shipment where it needs to be…"

"Unfortunately the time it takes to get there is on the conductor, not us…" Luke replied, casually scooting over next to Heather so she could lean on him when she couldn't handle the transportation anymore.

.

.

"Oi, Erza," Gray started, placing his hands into his jacket pockets as he and Erza neared a two story house.

"What is it, Gray?" Erza responded, looking over at Gray.

"You know, I was thinking…doesn't this job seem a tad too high paying for an S class job?" Gray said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Huh…" Erza raised a brow, having no idea what Gray was talking about. "That's odd?"

"To me…yeah…just a little…" Gray rubbed the back of his head nervously, deciding that he would stop talking until they met with the client. A few minutes passed, and Erza and Gray arrived in front of the client's house. "So, he's going to give us the run down?" Gray asked.

"That's right," Erza walked to the wooden door, raising her fist to knock on it when…

"Well, well, well…" A familiar voice rang through Erza and Gray's ears, causing them to turn around. Reve and Zalen walked forward, Reve cockily holding the exact same flyer Erza was. "Look what we have here…"

"Reve…" Erza said with a scowl, not even bothering to hide it.

"Oh, come on, Titania, lighten up!" Reve said, holding back a chuckle. "You don't have to take this job, Zalen and I can handle it from here."

"Tch, you wanna bet!?" Gray started, already irritated by Reve's asshole attitude.

"Gray, calm down," Erza replied before turning back to Reve and Zalen. "We're taking this job."

"I suppose we could use the extra help," Reve shrugged, looking over to Zalen. "What do you think, Zalen?"

"Eh, I think we can handle it, but we can't really stop them from coming along…" Zalen replied.

"Heh, is that who I think it is over there?" Another voice called out from the distance, causing the four mages to turn around. From a few yards away, the famous drunk of the guild Quatro Cerberus, Bacchus, walked along, raising a hand into the air to grab the other mage's attention. Along Bacchus, a male with dark blue hair, a white shirt with rolled up sleeves with a tie, black pants, and brown shoes.

"Bacchus?" Erza raised an eyebrow as the two mages walked towards them.

"That's right!" Bacchus nodded. "I can see I wasn't the only one who took this job."

"Looks like it was fan favorite," The male next to Bacchus said aloud.

"Who's this?" Erza asked.

"Oi! Blues, the Water Dragon Slayer of Qautro Cerberus!" Blues nodded several times, a smirk on his face.

"Water dragon slayer?" Gray raised a brow, intrigued by Blues' magic already.

"He's pretty wild," Bacchus started. "So, I asked if he wanted to come along with me on this job, and here we are."

"Don't expect us to share the reward with you when Zalen and I finish," Reve said with a smirk, shoving the flying into his pocket.

"Oh, a friendly competition?" Blues asked as a grin appeared on his face.

"Sounds pretty wild to me!" Bacchus grinned, throwing his fist into the air.

"Don't worry, Gray and I will be finishing this job," Erza nodded, a tiny smirk appearing on her face.

"Competition, you say?" A voice from around the area asked, causing the six mages to look around.

"Who said that…?" Gray asked.

"It wasn't me…" Zalen replied, looking around along with everyone else.

"I smell someone…" Blues said quietly, narrowing his eyes as he looked around, following the scent his nose picked up.

"YOOO!" A male with a gray jacket, gray pants, shoes, and even gray hair walked forward. This male also had red eyes to match his outfit. "Looks like I'm not too late for the party!"

"Who the heck are you?" Reve asked without a hint of subtly in his voice.

"Oh, I know you!" The male said, completely ignoring Reve's question. "Reve Volver, S class mage of white Eclipse, right!"

"That's right…" Reve nodded, crossing his arms as he expected this male to explain who he was and what he was doing here, yet he received no answer as the male immediately went onto Bacchus next.

"Uhm…" Zalen started, feeling ignore since he was standing right next to Reve.

"I think it's better he said nothing to you," Reve whispered to Zalen.

"Whoa!" The male stared at Bacchus with a sort of admiration. "The Drunken Falcon of Quarto Cerberus! Sugoi!"

"…Heh, I guess you've heard about me too, eh?" Bacchus grinned slightly, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Who HASN'T heard of you!? I gotta say, I'm a fan of your Palm magic; most people think its weak, but with the right person, like you, it's actually quite powerful."

"Now yer just flattering me," Bacchus replied, laughing slightly. However, the male didn't hear this comment as he went onto Erza.

"UHM…." Blues started, opening his mouth to speak, but decided it was better if he said nothing.

"TITANIA!" The male shouted, slapping his hands onto his cheeks, hearts filling his eyes for a split second before fading.

"That's me," Erza nodded slowly, crossing her arms.

"The rumors are true…" The male started.

"Rumors?" Erza asked, feeling as though she was going to regret asking.

"The scarlet flower of Fairy Tail is truly as beautiful as they say…" The male said, but in a poetic voice this time, convincing those standing there that he was hitting on Erza.

"Now that that's out of the way…" Gray started, crossing his arms as he looked at the male. "Who are you?"

"Oh me?" The male blinked, pointing to himself. "I thought I said who I was already…"

"You didn't…" Reve mumbled.

"Anyway! My name? Easy! Daryan Skeletalus!" Daryan nodded, crossing his arms with a a smirk forming.

"Nice to meet'cha, Daryan," Bacchus said, nodding after.

"What's your magic?" Zalen asked.

"Easy! Skeletal Dragon Slayer!" Daryan nodded.

"Skeletal what now?" Gray raised a brow.

"What kinda magic is that!?" Blues shouted. "I've never heard of a Skeletal Dragon either!"

"Oh, I can assure you," Daryan said with a grin. "He was very real…but alas, on that fateful day fourteen years ago, he, along with the other dragons, vanished."

"And what guild are you from…?" Erza asked.

"Oh, easy, once again; S class mage of Cosmic Star!" Daryan pointed to himself, adopting a prideful tone as he spoke.

"…I've never heard of that guild," Reve said bluntly. "Are you SURE you're an S class mage?"

"Er…." Daryan lost his confident stature and poked his index fingers together sheepishly. "Well…that's because we're a rather new guild. We got started about five months ago, and only few people have heard of us! But, we have a motto!"

"And what's that?" Blues asked, crossing his arms as he tilted his head slowly.

Daryan scratched his head a few times as he remembered the Cosmic Star motto. "Well…it's not a motto per se…BUT! Do whatever it takes!"

"Is that it…?" Zalen blinked a few times.

"That's it! But we take that motto very seriously," Daryan nodded.

"…What was the motto again?" Reve whispered to Zalen.

"How does your magic work…?" Blues asked. "What does a Skeletal Dragon Slayer even do?"

"Well, first off, I eat bones," Daryan said bluntly.

"That's…a little unsettling, actually…" Gray commented.

Daryan merely shrugged at Gray's response. "Eh, that's what I thought too, at first, but then I learned they're actually quite delectable."

"This guy's crazy…" Reve whispered to Zalen yet again.

"I agree…" Zalen whispered.

"Oh, and since I was taught by Skeletalus, I know the anatomy of the human body, and a few others quite well," Daryan continued.

"Is that so…?" Bacchus seemed interested by Daryan's abilities.

"Indeed! Reve, I'm using you as an example!" Daryan said quickly, extending his arm, pointing his finger out. A small gray magic circle appeared and shot a hairline thin beam towards Reve's shoulder.

"Wait, what?!" Though Reve was quick, the sudden example was a little too quick for even him and the thin hairline beam Daryan fired pierced through his shoulder, but it didn't draw blood, or cut muscle. It only cut through Reve's skin, quite easily at that. "What the hell was that!?" Reve blurted out.

"I was just showing an example of what I can do! If I wanted to, I could've had that cut through your muscle, oh hell, your bones even." Daryan nodded with a proud grin.

"…I don't like this guy," Reve stated aloud.

"So, I can assume all of us are here for the same thing?" Erza asked, but it was more of a statement as she eyed the other mages.

"Looks like it," Bacchus replied. "How 'bout we get started!"

"Right," Erza nodded, knocking on the door.

.

.

A train stopped in western Fiore, and the bulky God Slayer known as Orga stepped off, having to crouch to exit the train. "Alright…"

Chelia hopped off the same exact train as Orga, but from a different car, so when she looked over, it was so surprise she was slightly surprised to see him. "Huh…?" Chelia walked over to Orga, placing a finger on her chin. "Aren't you from Sabertooth?"

"Huh?" Orga looked down, noticing the small girl a few feet in front of him. "That's right!" Orga nodded. "Lightning God Slayer of Saberooth! Orga Nanagear!"

"I thought so!" Chelia nodded. "I knew I'd seen you somewhere before."

"What are you doing here?" Orga asked.

"Oh, well…" Chelia held out the job she had taken, which specifically requested God Slayers. "I saw this job on the request board, and I decided to take it!"

Orga raised a brow, pulling out the exact same job Chelia had taken. "You too, huh?"

"I wonder what it could be about…" Chelia said to herself. "Well!" Chelia said, giving a small smile towards Orga. "Since we're both here, how about we go together?"

Orga shrugged, nodding in agreement. "Alright, I don't see the harm in that."

"Yay!" Chelia grinned cheerfully.


	3. Chapter 3: Job Fever Part 2

"Am I the only one bother by the concept of flying cats that talk….?" Luke said as he rubbed Heather's stomach to help soothe her suffering from the motion sickness, only managing to do so just slightly. The Fairy Tail group just looked at Luke oddly, and Carla had a sort of offended look on her face. "…I'll take that as a yes…"

"Actually…" Someone from somewhere in the same car as them said. "I find it quite fascinating such creatures exist."

"…Who said that?" Lucy asked, looking around.

"It wasn't me…" Luke replied.

"Not me…" Cynthia groaned.

"Same here…" Wendy said.

"Fiish…." Happy said to himself, still believing that the cargo they were supposed to protect held multiple exotic fish.

"I did," A male raised his hand from the seat on the opposite side of Luke. This male had yellow hair, green eyes, blue pants, boots, and a gray shirt.

"…And you are…?" Heather managed to say, holding back a groan.

"You shouldn't waste energy speaking when you're clearly suffering," the male replied before continuing on. "My name is Magnus, tactician for the guild, Cosmic Star."

"Cosmic…" Lucy started.

"Star…?" Natsu groaned.

"Never heard of that guild before," Wendy said, bringing her free hand up to tap her chin, looking out the window as she began to think to confirm her statement.

"We are…a relatively new guild," Magnus said slowly. "We've only been around for five months, you see."

"Five months…?" The particular timing caught Cynthia's attention. "That's just after…" She suddenly stopped when the train hit a bump, causing the train to rumble slightly, resulting in the three suffering Dragon Slayers to let out a loud groan.

"Fiore's End? Oh, I'm well aware of that, Cynthia Viscard." Magnus replied.

"It's Cynthia ROSE…" Cynthia said with a low growl and a mixture of groaning.

"Oh, right, excuse me," Magnus said, waving a hand apologetically.

"Let's not talk about that incident…" Wendy said quietly, a frown appearing on her face.

"Yeah, that wasn't exactly the best time for anyone…" Luke coughed slightly, looking down to his stomach, lifting his shirt of slightly, reminiscing on the scar his stomach held.

"I apologize," Magnus said with a nod. "Perhaps I can repay you by telling you what this shipment we're protecting is?"

"We're?" Carla raised an eyebrow. "You're on this job as well?"

"And are you sure the people who didn't tell us won't mind…?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, I'm sure they won't," Magnus nodded. "Besides, I deduced it myself."

"You what…?" Heather asked, attempting to sit up straight, but found that she was unable to do so.

"Is it FISH!?" Happy asked, suddenly in Magnus' face with sparkling eyes.

Magnus pushed Happy out of his face, shaking his head after with a slight chuckle. "I'm going to have to say no, it's not fish." With that last statement, Happy's dreams shattered like glass, and he just sat on the seat next to Natsu, bringing his arms around his knees as he went silent from depression due to the harsh reality he was given.

"Now that that idea is out of his head…" Carla sighed. "What is this cargo?"

"I know not of its name, but I know it's a recently discovered element," Magnus replied.

"A new element?" This peaked Luke's interest slightly, still massaging Heather's stomach as she held in her groans, but he turned some of his attention to Magnus.

"Indeed. It's supposed to have some sort of special quality, but without further research on it," Magnus replied. "But, it's rather important if they want wizards to protect it. So perhaps we'll be able to inquiry some information should this train get to the factory without trouble."

"I'm interested to see what this is…" Lucy said.

"I'm interested in getting off this train…" Natsu groaned.

.

.

Erza, Gray, Reve, Zalen, Bacchus, Blues, and Daryan exited the requester's house. Reve was rubbing his ears, groaning slightly. "Geez," Blues started, shaking his head slightly. "Are you sure the job wasn't listening to him ramble about EVERYTHING for hours..?"

"I barely survived that…" Gray said, shaking his head slowly.

"I don't see what you guys are complaining about," Daryan said with a smile on his face. "I thought what he had to say was interesting!"

"You can't be serious…" Reve said, raising an eyebrow towards Daryan.

"Takes all kinds I suppose," Zalen said.

"Did anyone actually catch what we were supposed to do? I kinda stopped paying attention after thirty minutes in…" Bacchus said.

"I didn't…" Blues sighed.

"Same here…" Erza let out a small "tch" noise.

"Well," Daryan started with his voice a bit cocky. "If you guys were listening fully, it would've made sense!"

"Oh? What did he say then?" Reve asked, waiting for an immediate answer. However, Daryan complied faster than Reve expected.

"The castle nearby has been abandon for nearly three years, yes? Well, there's something in that castle that old man wants. He didn't even hint towards the name in his story, but I gather it's something important if he wanted an S class mage to do the deed." Daryan explained.

"Huh…not bad…" Bacchus said with a nod.

"Heh, thank you, thank you," Daryan said with a bow, pointing over in the direction of the castle. "He said it was over this way!" Daryan then nodded, breaking into a sprint towards the direction he pointed in.

"I really don't like that guy…" Reve said, walking along with Zalen.

"He's…interesting…to say the least…" Zalen said over to Reve.

"We only have to stick with him for this mission," Blues said over to the White Eclipse mages.

"I could say the same thing for you guys, too," Reve said, shrugging off any annoyance coming from the Fairy Tail mages. As the group walked towards the castle, they weren't aware of the love crazed water mage following behind them, keeping her eyes on her beloved Gray. Juvia silently followed behind them. But, even Juvia was unaware that she was also being followed. Well, not her in particular, but the group as a whole. Three butts rose from behind a rock, looking around as though they were people for a few seconds before jiggling up and down, almost as if the butt in the center was having a conversation with the other two butts around it. After a few seconds the butts slowly moved down back into hiding.

.

.

On a patch of high ground in the middle of a dense forest, two hooded figures kept their eyes on a large mansion in the middle of the forest; otherwise known as Silent Sanctum's guild; one figure removed their hood, revealing themselves to be none other than a criminal on the run from the Magic Council, Jellal Frenandes; along with Jellal was his only other partner, Meredy. The two together made up the guild known for destroying dark guilds; Crime Sorciere. "This was the place, right?" Jellal asked Meredy, who nodded for confirmation.

"This is the place…" Meredy said.

"So, our intel was correct…" Jellal said aloud, but mainly to himself.

"You mean the people talking around town about how an elderly woman was kidnapped…?" Meredy asked.

"Yes, that Intel…" Jellal cleared his throat. "Anyway…"

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Meredy asked. "This is Silent Sanctum…this dark guild isn't something we should take lightly…I don't think the two of us alone could take them all down…"

"That's not our mission right now," Jellal replied. "We're going to sneak in, find that eldery woman, and sneak out, as fast as possible, I might add. We cannot risk any confrontation. I know this guild is very powerful, so we must tread lightly…" Jellal's body then lit up in a heavenly glow. "I'm going to scout the area…stay right here, and don't move unless necessary…"

"Alright…" Meredy nodded.

"Meteor…" Jellal then flew up; his speed increased drastically by his Heavenly Body Magic, and started to survey the guild, looking for any openings.

.

.

Takeru and Arc landed in an open field scarcely covered with vegetation, but mostly covered in gravel. "The first job is here?" Arc asked as Takeru hopped off his back.

"Mhm, it says we just have to…uh…" Takeru blinked a few times, realizing something.

"…Something wrong?" Arc asked.

"This…this DOES say south, right?" Takeru asked, placing the flyer in front of Arc's face, then quickly retracted it, realizing Arc couldn't see with the bandages. "Oh…right…"

"…You don't know what it says?" Arc asked.

"Well…I assumed it said south…" Takeru replied.

"…You can't read, can you?" Arc said.

"…Sssh…" Takeru sighed.

"Oh, there's something far more upsetting to be worried about than lack of reading skill," A voice said as it neared the two.

"What…?" Takeru looked around, unfamiliar with the voice or scent that was nearing him. Before he and Arc knew it, several magic circles appeared on their bodies, causing the magic within their bodies to explode, causing a cloud of smoke to appear. Aloysius, the ace of Silent Sanctum, walked forward, dusting his hands off with a sinister grin.

When the smoke cleared, Takeru was in his Shadow Drive, his body giving off a pitch black aura while his hair floated up slightly. "Who…!?"

"He's no ordinary mage…" Arc said, seemingly unfazed by Aloysius' Rapture Magic, but in reality, the damage he took was greater than Takeru's, mainly because Arc was stronger, thus having more magical energy to manipulate.

.

.

Chelia and Orga walked into an old, abandon town. The atmosphere of the town caused shivers to crawl up her spine, in turn, causing her to shiver just slightly. "I don't like this place…" Chelia said to Orga. "Let's hurry up and finish whatever it is we're supposed to do…"

Orga simply nodded; it didn't seem as though he were affected by the town's atmosphere. "Hm…I wonder what it is they want…" After ten minutes, the two walked into the town's square, where two hooded figures were standing, waiting for them. "Huh?"

"People?" Cehlia tilted her head slowly. "What are they doing here…?"

"Are you the god slayers we requested?" A feminine voice asked from the middle of the square.

"U-Uh, yeah!" Chelia nodded, pointing to herself. "The Sky God Slayer of Lamia Scale, Chelia Blendy!" Chelia nodded a few times after her introduction, then looked to Orga, waiting for him to introduce himself.

"I am Orga Nanagear!" Orga said, pulling a microphone out of nowhere. "Lightning God Slayer of the soon to be number one guild in Fiore, SABERTOOTH!" Orga sung the last part of his little introduction; his horrid singing voice causing the other three around him to flinch noticeably, however he didn't notice it at all, and the microphone in his hands vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"His singing needs work…" The female said, throwing off her hood to reveal her face. Diana's was actually an attractive female, with black eyes and black hair tied into a ponytail, reaching her lower back. She also had a slightly visible tattoo that ran down her upper left chest down her arm, and she wore black leather gloves that exposed her fingers.

"I agree…" Blake was next, throwing off his hood, revealing his short, white hair, red eyes, and black suit.

"Eh…?" Chelia blinked. "Who are you guys?"

"And what do you want with God Slayers?" Orga asked.

"Oh, that's quite simple, actually," Diana replied while examining her nails, not really paying much attention to the two god slayers or what was going on. "Oh…I'm going to need a manicure after this…my nails are atrocious…" She mumbled to herself, basically leaving Blake to do the explaining.

"It's simple, actually," Blake said, continuing where Diana left off. "My wife and I only wish to…test your powers."

"Test our powers?" Chelia blinked a few times, and then looked to Orga, then Diana and Blake.

"You are God Slayers, correct? We just want to see if you God Slayers are as powerful as they say," Blake continued.

"So, a fight?" Orga crossed his arms, smirking slightly.

"Oh, yes, indeed," Blake nodded. "If you two God Slayers manage to defeat my wife and I, we will hand you your reward and continue on our separate ways, however, if you don't, then well…"

"A fight? That's a little weird, but we accept, right?" Chelia asked Orga.

"Indeed!" Orga nodded.

"Oh, are we starting?" Diana yawned, placing her hands behind her head.


	4. Chapter 4: Job Fever Part 3

"This train…can…go fall off a cliff…" Cynthia groaned, shifting around uncomfortably.

"If that happened we'd all DIE," Luke commented.

"I'm suffering you DON'T UNDERSTAND," Cynthia retorted.

"I…have to agree with the little girl…" Heather groaned softly, resting her head on Luke's shoulder, unable to find the strength to move due to her shared sickness.

"D-Ditto…" Natsu nodded.

"How much longer is this ride going to take..?" Lucy asked, looking out the window.

"We're approaching the mountains as we speak," Magnus replied, leaning back in his seat as the mountains came into view. "Once we cross this rather long bridge, we'll be at the factory.

"Rather long bridge?" Wendy tilted her head to look out the window, noticing the train beginning to cross a large bridge that spanned about 500 yards.

"That's a long bridge…" Carla said to herself.

"So far, nothing bad has happened…" Lucy said. "I guess we're getting out of this one easy!" And just when Lucy finished speaking, about 150 yards into the train, it began to shake violently, the wheels on the train suddenly stopping, the friction from the metal wheels and the railing causing sparks to fly wildly as the train came to an abrupt stop.

"…You just HAD to say something…" Luke sighed.

"…I feel better!" Cynthia grinned, hopping up out of her seat, stretching, unaware of everything aside from the train stopping. "Let's go!" Cynthia walked towards the door, and opened it, only to see that there was at least a two-mile drop into an abyss waiting for her. "WAAAH!" Cynthia jumped back, panting heavily. "W-WHAT WAS THAT!?"

"The train stopped…!" Wendy gasped.

"I'm not complaining…" Heather said, sitting up straight now. "I feel much better…!"

"You know…" Magnus started, starting to put the pieces together. "If you were attacking a train…how would you do it…?"

"Me? Well, not that I've robbed a train before…" Luke started. "But, I would probably get it in a secluded area where no one could interfere…"

"And then?" Magnus continued.

"Easy. Attack it…" Luke's eyes widened as he finished that sentence.

"Here they come…!" Natsu said, springing up out of his seat.

.

.

"Two on two, seems fitting enough," Diana said, casually adjusting her ponytail, not even caring much for what was about to happen.

"You ready, Orga?" Chelia asked as black winds started to faintly surround her body.

"Ready!" Orga smirked, black lightning beginning to dance wildly around his body with a fiant crackling sound every few seconds.

"We will allow you the first move," Blake nodded, crossing his arms.

"Fine by me!" Orga pounded his fist together, causing a crackle of black lightning. He then focused on Diana, since she was the one who seemed carefree about the battle, and reared his fist back. Orga then threw his black lightning fist forward towards the female, but, to his surprise, Diana easily caught the fist. This wouldn't be surprising to Orga normally, but the female in front of him hadn't taken her eyes off her nails. "What…?"

Diana yawned, simply, aiming a kick to Orga's side, the power behind it little, but the result; unbelievable. Orga slid back across the concrete, all the way back to Chelia and further, which was at least a 20 yard distance. "That was just a love tap."

"W-What…!?" Orga winced, looking at his side to notice the large bruise.

"A-Are you alright!?" Chelia asked, her eyes widened at the large bruise.

"…I'm fine!" Orga replied.

"My turn…" Chelia nodded, and then rushed towards Blake as she generated two spiraling black currents in her hands. . "Sky God's Boreas!" Chelia extended her hands forward, sending the black currents forward, now taking shape of a massive whirlwind towards Blake.

"Heh…" Blake watched as the incoming black whirlwinds raced towards him, though he was unfazed as the winds raced towards him. "Interesting…" Blake merely brought his forearm up as the attack consumed him. When the whirlwind faded, his arm was revealed to be bruised, and slightly cut, but that was it.

"W-What?!" Chelia's eyes widened. "How did he take that attack so easily…!?"

"My turn…" Blake smirked, bringing his hands to his side in a C formation, a white sphere forming within the space between his hands. "White God's…." The sphere grew to about the size of a basketball, which Blake thought was more than enough power. "Holy ray!" Blake threw his arms forward, sending multiple rays of godly light towards the two.

"White God!?" Orga's eyes widened as the rays came in; he and Chelia were forced to split off, Orga running to the left and Chelia to the right as they barely managed to avoid the incoming rays.

Diana appeared on Orga's side, a devilish smirk on her face. "Hey there, big boy," Before Orga had the chance to react, Diana slammed her fist into Orga's jaw, causing him to fly into a nearby building.

"Who are you guys?!" Chelia asked as she narrowly avoided a punch from Blake, using the close range to her advantage, rotating her torso while extending her arms out, creating a spiraling black wind that hurled Blake several meters into the air, also known as her Sky God's Dance. To increase the effectiveness of this assault, Chelia jumped into the air, raising her hands above her head as black wind surrounded them, aiming both of her fists into Blake's gut.

"Sky God's Dance…" Blake said aloud as Chelia moved in with the attack. Blake was harmed by Chelia's attack, but he didn't allow his body to move in the way Chelia wanted it to. He twisted his body while thrown into the air, regaining complete control of it without little issue. As Chelia aimed her fists at Blake, he merely stopped them with his forearm, the same one that was struck by the Sky God's Boreas; a smirk forming on his face at the girl's widened eyes of surprise. "Do not underestimate the power of the White God…" Blake said, rearing his free hand back as he clenched his fist, surrounding it in holy white energy. "White God's Holy Fist." He then slammed his fist into Chelia's stomach, causing her eyes to go wide and fall to the ground, holding her stomach as she writhed around in pain.

Orga rushed out from the building he was thrown into, coating his elbow in his signature black lightning, rushing towards Diana. "Lightning God's Elbow!"

Diana merely watched as Orga came forward, and leaned her body to the side, narrowly avoiding Orga's elbow. Not because the attack was coming in too fast, but because she was merely toying with the bulky god slayer. The smirk on her face never left as she brought her knee into Orga's gut, causing Orga to lean forward with widened eyes, spit flying out of his mouth. Diana then reared her fist back, and then slammed it into Orga's jaw, sending him rolling across the ground, stopping right beside Chelia. "Not as powerful as I was hoping for…" Diana sighed slightly, going right back to examining her nails.

"They are doing about as well as I expected them to," Blake said, landing on the ground and walking right next to Diana.

Chelia picked herself up slowly, panting heavily as she kept her arms wrapped around her stomach. "W-what's with these two…"

Orga stood up, swaying slightly as he wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand, shaking off the impact. "I don't know, but I'm not going to let them beat me here." Orga placed his partially open palms horizontally away from his body; the palms facing each other, distanced away by merely a few inches. Tiny sparks of Orga's signature black lightning started to generate between his hands, growing larger and larger in semi circles. He then fired a similarly colored electric beam from his hands towards Blake and Diana. "120mm Black Lightning Cannon!"

"They clearly don't understand what they're up against…" Diana walked forward, placing her hand out. She "caught" the incoming beam of lightning, and closed her hand, causing the beam to vanish, leaving Orga standing there with widened eyes.

.

.

Takeru bit his tongue, refusing to cry out in pain as Aloysius caused the magic in his body to explode every other second. Neither he nor Arc could find an opening long big enough to attack Aloysius, who had a twisted grin on his face the entire time. Takeru believed he found an opening, and he immediately formed a shadow katana in his hands and lunged forward towards Aloysius, only to be stopped short as a multiple magic circles appeared on Takeru's body. "Close…" Aloysius said in a mocking tone before snapping his fingers once again, causing the magic in Takeru's body to explode violently, causing a cry of pain to escape Takeru's lips. It wasn't common Takeru did such a thing, but if he did, he knew he was in trouble.

"This isn't good…" Takeru groaned, blood trailing down every spot on his body.

Arc was in the same situation, but in a much worse position than Takeru. Blood trailing down his skin, painting it scarlet instead of the normal color, wounds were open, and he was on his hands and knees.

"I could kill you two right now…" Aloysius said with his grin widening, snapping his fingers once again to create the explosions he loved seeing, causing the two mages to cry out in pain once more. "In fact…" Aloysius then walked forward to the two downed mages, raising his foot, but he stopped, placing it down as he looked behind him. "Hm…It appears you two have lucked out…My master is calling for me…" A heavenly light surrounded Aloysius, and he looked down towards the two mages. "Don't expect to get so lucky next time…Meteor…" With that, he flew off into the distance, leaving Takeru and Arc heavily damaged, with no one around to heal them.

.

.

Jellal returned to Meredy's side, the heavenly glow around his body fading. "The place is crowded with mages," Jellal said. "But, there was an opening in the back."

"We have to be careful…" Meredy said quietly.

"Right…" Jellal turned around…and that's when it happened; a large hammer slammed into him and Meredy, causing a large explosion that rocked the forest. Jellal and Meredy flew back, flying through several trees before hitting the ground, rolling on it for a few yards before stopping. "M-Meredy, are you okay?!" Jellal winced from the pain slightly, but he managed to stand up. Meredy stood up a few seconds later, gripping her arm while closing once eye, wincing.

"I-I'm fine…" Meredy said with a bit of a pained voice.

"Well, well, well…" Byron walked forward with his Explosive Hammer held behind his head, a smirk drawn on his lips as he approached the two independent mages.

"I didn't see that guy when…!" Jellal started.

"When you circled around our guild, looking for an opening?" Byron said, cutting Jellal off. "Interesting…" Byron said, raising his hammer. "I didn't think ya two were the types to rescue people…"

"W-What do we do now, Jellal…?" Meredy asked. "That explosion…"

"Notified the guild we had soon to be intruders? Yes, yes it did," Byron smirked, nodding a few times. "They should be here in a matter of…seconds." Right after that, a bunch of no name guild members form Silent Sanctum surrounded Jellal and Meredy.

.

.

The group of S class wizards and their partners made their way to a large, abandon castle. The size of the castle was thrice that of the current Fairy Tail building. Blues looked up at the building with a sort of admiration. "Whoa…this building is actually pretty big…" Blues said.

"No kidding…" Zalen said, eying every part of the castle that was in need of repair. "With a little work, this place could be…!"

"Settle down there," Daryan interrupted, quite rudely at that. "You can come back here on your own time. Instead, how about we focus on the job at hand, no?"

"I agree," Erza commented, looking over to the castle.

"So, we just walk in, grab whatever's inside, and walk out?" Gray asked, looking over to Erza.

"If that was the case, I wouldn't see why this is an S Class job," Bacchus replied to Gray.

"Well, we'll see why when we get there," Reve said, taking a step forward…pressing some sort of switch. Reve immediately drew his foot back when he felt the ground under it sink oddly. "What the?!"

"What just happened?" Erza asked, cutting her eyes at Reve.

"I pressed something…?" Reve said. A few seconds later, the worn down square tiles on the castle wall started to move up, revealing spherical drones that flew out from the walls, immediately firing down magical lasers at the group.

"Whoa!" Blues flailed his arms. "What's the about!?"

"I got it…!" Zalen threw his hands into the air, creating a large wall of steel, diamond, and wood, providing temporary cover for the group.

"Nice one, Zalen!" Reve nodded, giving the building mage a smirk.

"Nice going, gunslinger!" Gray shouted.

"Oh, yeah, blame this on me, cute," Reve scoffed.

"It is your fault!" Gray replied.

"Hey, cool your jets guys!" Daryan said with a hint of excitement in his voice. "I love a challenge, and this is exactly what this is!"

"Heh, lookin' pretty wild to me," Bacchus said with a grin.

"Zalen, how long can this wall hold?" Blues asked.

"With this heavy fire, I'd give it a few minutes before it starts to crack…" Zalen replied.

"So we have a few minutes to think of a plan…" Blues said, placing his hand on his chin.

"Water body!" Daryan said, looking over at Blues.

"Water what?" Blues blinked, having no idea on what Daryan was hinting towards.

"Water body! Can't your turn your body into water and deal with some of those drones!" Daryan said again.

"I don't know what Water Body is," Blues replied, giving Daryan a "e.e" kind of look.

"WHAT KINDA WATER MAGE DOESN'T HAVE A WATER BODY!?" Daryan face palmed. "Okay, new plan!"

Reve already went in however. With two pistols in his hand, he started to run forward, returning fire at the drones. Thanks to his quick eyes, he was able dodge the a few of the incoming laser, then rolled hard to the left, firing off his pistols with pin point accuracy, destroying a few of the drones. "This is easy!" Reve said with a smirk; however his smirk replaced itself with a somewhat surprised look as turrets appeared on the ground just in front of him, unleashing beams of magic in Reve's direction. "What the…?" Reve swayed hard to the right, narrowly avoiding a beam of magic that raced past his head, but the second beam of magic struck his chest, causing him to tumble back across the ground with a large burn mark on his chest. "Damn, that hurt…"

"Reve!" Zalen ran out from behind the cover, conjuring up a defensive steel wall large enough to protect Reve from fire.

"Guess we're going all out!" Bacchus grinned. "Wild!" Bacchus ran from behind the cover, finding himself immediately under fire from the drones, however this wasn't an issue for the Drunken Falcon as he swayed his body around the incoming lasers. Just then, a few more turrets popped out in front of Bacchus, but he wasn't even fazed, instead, he raised his leg, and stomped on the ground, creating a large shockwave that circled around the drunk, destroying the turrets around him.

"Kanso!" A heavenly light surrounded Erza's body as she changed into her Heaven's Wheel armor, flying above the wall Zalen constructed, only to be greeted by incoming fire from the moving spherical drones. Erza matched the drones by creating a multitude of swords, and threw them forward at the drones; each sword that collided with a drone caused a miniature explosion.

"I'm starting to see why this is an S class mission now…" Daryan said, watching the three S class wizards do their thing.

"Aren't you gonna do something?" Gray asked Daryan.

"Hm? Oh me? Well, they seem to have everything under control…" Daryan said, rubbing the back of his head.

"All talk…" Blues scoffed, then hopped out the cover along with Gray, both mages sliding their fist into their palms as two magic seals appeared in front of them; Ocean blue for Blues, and light blue for Gray.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray threw his hands forward, unleashing multiple ice lances towards any stray drones.

"Water Make: Lance!" Along with Gray, Blues threw his hands forward, unleashing watery lances towards any drones anyone else failed to hit. The lances seemed flimsy; however they were quite dense, giving them enough power to destroy any stray drones, and the turrets that fired at Reve.

"Water Make?" Gray turned over to Blues with a raised brow. "Who taught you that?"

"Who taught you Ice Make?" Blues asked in return, raising a brow.

"Bravo, bravo!" Daryan clapped as he walked from behind the cover. "We did great!"

"What do you mean WE?!" Reve shouted. "You just stood there!"

"You didn't need my help, obviously," Daryan replied.

"Even we helped…" Blues said quietly.

"Ah, details, details!" Daryan waved a dismissive hand as started to walk towards the castle.

"…I'm really starting to dislike this guy…" Reve groaned.

"I'm sure he'll be of some help…soon…?" Zalen said hopefully.

.

.

Within a room of the very same castle, a mage with black hair, a suit, and a top hat scoured through a room, rummaging around as if he were looking for something. "Ah, come on...I'm sure there's something here of interesting that no one would miss..." The mage said to himself, continuing to rummage around the room like a thief.


	5. Chapter 5: Job Fever Part 4

Happy's wings spread out, and he was now on Natsu's back, giving the dragon slayer a temporary source of flight, allowing the two to move onto the outside of the train, spotting several burglars with various weapons on the top of the train, moving towards the cargo. "Hey guys, up here!" Natsu shouted down to the others, but he also caught the attention of the burglar's attention, causing them to turn around. Natsu only smirked, pounding his fist together as the burglars charged over towards him. "I'm all fired up! Let's go, Happy!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy grinned flying forward towards the burglars with Natsu firmly in his grip.

Lucy, Luke, Heather, Magnus, and Cynthia climbed onto the top of the train, while Carla flew up with Wendy. "Hm, they have numbers," Magnus said, stroking his chin while entering a trance of deep thought. "But, do they have strength...?"

"Big numbers like these usually don't have strength," Cynthia replied, allowing her signature dark red flames to cover her fist. "Save some fun for me!" She shouted towards Natsu as she ran over to deal with the burglars.

"That may be true, but what if they were only using these numbers as a guise…?" Magnus said, only to realize that none of the mages were within earshot of his voice anymore. "Fools…rushing in without a strategy…numbers don't mean anything…"

Natsu raised two hands into the air, generating two spheres of fire on his hands; Natsu then brought his hands together, forming a giant flaming sphere that he was now holding over his head. "Dazzling Blaze of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu hurled the sphere forward, grinning confidently as it struck a clump of bandits, knocking them off the train and into the abyss below.

"My turn!" Cynthia below Natsu, dark red fire trailing behind her arms. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Cynthia threw her arms forward, aiming to slash the bandits with her fire. However, most of the bandits saw through this, and jumped back onto the roof of another car, unscathed by Cynthia's attack.

Wendy jumped into the air; her arms spread out, right above the bandits that just avoided Cynthia's attack. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy sent sharp whirlwinds from her arms towards the bandits, knocking a few off the train, while the others just stood their ground.

Lucy pulled out one of her golden keys, a bright light shimmering from the tip of the key as she held it up, "Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!" A magic circle appeared, and as if from nowhere, Taurus rose from the ground, roaring a mighty "MOOO!" As he did so.

"I'll do my best to serve Lucy-sama and her nice body!" Taurus said proudly.

"I'm not a fan of this one…" Heather whispered to Luke.

"Yeah, me neither…" Luke replied before snapping his fingers, causing a large red magic circle to appear in front of him. "Flame Dragon!" A large fire dragon shot out from the magic circle, slamming into the bandits nearby, sending them flying away from the train and down into the abyss.

"Can you not use that magic…?" Lucy asked, shivering slightly from the faint memory.

"What? It's good magic!" Luke replied, and right after he replied, a bandit managed to sneak up on his left, landing a right hook to Luke's jaw, causing him to stumble back, almost falling off the train. "GAH!"

"MOO!" Taurus swung his axe, landing a direct hit on the bandit that struck Luke, sending that one down into the abyss below.

Luke regained his balance, only to see Heather conjuring up a magenta colored magic circle in front of him. "Duck," Heather said in a demanding tone, and Luke complied, hitting the floor as Heather fired off a flurry of poisonous scales at the incoming bandits.

Magnus merely watched as the wizards fought the bandits, making mental notes of each wizard's abilities. "Interesting…"

"Hey, you gonna help or what!?" Natsu shouted.

"Yes, yes…give me a second…" Magnus placed his hand in the air, feeling the wind currents around his hand. "Hm…Lucy, was it? I recommend you shift your body approximately sixty seven degrees in about five seconds."

"W-What?" Lucy looked over at Magnus with confusion.

"Three…two…" Magnus counted down. "And…NOW!"

Lucy was confused, but she did as she was told, twisting her body about sixty seven degrees, and to her surprise, a beam of darkness passed right by her, and flew into the sky. "W-What?! You knew that was coming!?"

"Of course," Magnus replied. "Now then…" Without moving from his current spot, Magnus pivoted on his left foot, spinning around in a quarter circle, avoiding a blast of fire from a bandit all the way across the train.

"Whoa…!" Cynthia watched Magnus with widened eyes, amazed as his ability to predict with such accuracy.

.

.

Chelia and Orga rolled across the ground, both heavily damaged, while Blake had minor damage, and Diana had no damage. It was clear who was stronger between Blake and Diana, and it was even clearer than Blake and Diana were both stronger than Chelia and Orga, perhaps in an entirely different league. "U-Ugh…" Orga picked himself up slowly, swaying from side to side as his body screamed out in pain.

Chelia's body started to glow, signifying that she was healing her injuries. After a few seconds, she stood up, panting heavily. She may have healed her injuries, but her body was still exhausted. "I-I won't lose…"

"Still standing?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps we should give them credit where credit is due…not many people last this long against us…" Diana said, rolling her neck. "It's a shame though…"

"W-What's a shame?" Orga asked through heavy breaths.

"I don't know about Blake, but I'm only getting warmed up," Diana said with a yawn.

"She's bluffing…!" Chelia responded immediately.

"Am I really?" Diana asked, taking a step forward. "Try me then."

"I will!" Chelia winced before rearing her head back, gathering a large amount of black wind in her mouth. Orga followed suit, gathering a large amount of black lightning in his mouth along with Chelia. "Sky God's Bellow!" Chelia threw her head forward, unleashing a cyclone of black wind towards Diana.

"Lightning God's Bellow!" Orga threw his head forward, sending an electric beam of lightning forward, his bellow merging with Chelia's midway, creating a unison raid that utterly destroyed the ground it traveled through.

"Hmph…" Diana extended her arm in front of her, opening her palm as a tiny black sphere appeared in her open palm, growing in size within seconds, reaching the size of a soccer-ball. "Black God's Bomb…" The sphere launched itself forward, clashing with the unison bellow for a few seconds; after the few seconds passed, the black sphere cut through the bellow, and exploded on Chelia and Orga, causing a large black explosion to tower into the sky, shaking the entire town and everything within a mile radius of it, resulting in a large dust cloud.

"Don't you think that was a bit much?" Blake asked, crossing his arms.

"Oh please…" Diana yawned, looking into the smoke as it cleared. To her surprise, Chelia was still standing; her body as covered in cuts, bruises, and blood was trailing down the entire left side of her body, but still standing. Orga, however, was KO'ed. "What?"

"She's still standing? Impressive…" Blake shrugged slightly.

"Secret God Slayer Art…" Chelia started, extending her arms outwards with their palms open, having currents of black air spiral around them. She then lifts her hands into the sky, gathering more, thinner streams of air around her. Black air then generated from her very arms, appearing in a stylized feathered from, which rapidly grew in numbers until Chelia condensed them into an elongated mass before her hands, creating a final current that grew larger and larger, as one of the ending parts wrapped around her body, while the other part launched towards Blake and Diana. Four heavenly winds composed of Chelia's signature black wind protruded from the part around Chelia's body, leaving the rest surrounded by thin, spiraling currents of the very same wind, scatting the feathers as the dark, serpentine mass raced towards her opponents. "Heavenly Gathering of Clouds!"

The massive power of the incoming black hurricane surprised Blake, and even Diana to a small extent. "That's a powerful attack," Diana said in a nonchalant tone.

"That could kill someone…" Blake said, obviously taken aback by the little girl's power. The two opposing God Slayer's were consumed by the attack and not a sound escaped their lips as the hurricane consumed them.

"G-Got them…" Chelia fell to her knees, using her hands to keep herself up, panting heavily. Chelia looked up just to make sure, and her eyes widened at what she saw. Blake was the one who took the brunt of the damage, his body covered in cuts and bruises, moderately damaged by the attack, yet he was still standing. Diana, on the other hand, had less cuts and less bruises than Blake, and she was only slightly injured by the attack. "W-WHAT!?" Chelia couldn't believe what she was witnessing; that was her strongest attack!

"Not bad, Sky God Slayer…That one actually stung…" Diana smirked, walking over to Chelia slowly, and kicked her in the side, forcing the girl to fall over, lying on her stomach, and a cry of pain escaping her lips. Chelia attempted to get up, but she was quickly stopped by Diana slamming the heel of her shoe into Chelia's head, causing the girl to stop, letting out a pained shriek as she felt the blood gushing down her head. Diana placed her heel on the wound, pressing down on it slightly. "Don't move, and don't think about using any of that healing magic of yours just yet, unless you want a little more pain, that is…"

"Well, this was interesting…" Blake said, crossing his arms as he watched Diana do her thing.

"What do you think I should do with her?" Diana asked, tapping the foot that wasn't on Chelia's head a few times.

"I saw we rough them both up a bit more; messing with them was fun," Blake nodded.

"She's the stronger one out of the two, no doubt...perhaps we should show her guild what happened to her...Yes, I like that idea..." Diana chuckled to herself before scanning Chelia's body, searching for the precious guild mark.

"What about the bulky one?" Blake asked.

"He didn't last five hits against me," Diana replied, her eyes sparkling with sick joy as she spotted Chelia's green Lamia scale mark on her leg, covered by the blood running down her leg.

Chelia was tempted to heal herself, but in her current situation, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do, so she just opened her mouth, letting her weak voice out. "S-Stop..."

"Oh, hush, girly. If if makes you feel better, I'll do the same thing to your unconscious friend over there," Diana replied, lifting her finger as a dark aura surrounded it. "This shouldn't hurt...too much..."

.

.

Jellal slid back across the ground, conjuring a golden magic circle with a star in the middle. "Heavenly Arrows!" From the magic circle, multiple arrows of holy light shot out, crashing into the no name members of Silent Sanctum, causing them to fly back.

"Wow, you guys really ARE useless…" Byron sighed before swinging his Explosive Hammer at Meredy, who narrowly dodged the attack itself, but the explosion sent her to the side, hitting a tree.

"Meredy!" Jellal went over to help Meredy, but he was cut off by Byron jumping in his way, swinging the explosive hammer once again, but thanks to Jellal's Meteor, he was able to avoid the attack, and the miniature explosion.

"I won't let you hurt Jellal…!" Meredy created several sensory blades in front of her, and she swiped her hand to the side, sending the blades hurtling towards Byron.

"Hm?" Byron turned just as Meredy fired off the sensory blades, his hammer fading, and in turn, his Gravity hammer and suit appeared in his hands, allowing himself to manipulate gravity at will, and he did so, changing his own gravity so the swords would miss; now floating upside down in the air with a smirk.

"Meteor!" Jellal used this chance to allow the familiar heavenly light to coat his body, using it to now fly towards the upside down Byron, unleashing flurry of punches, almost invisible to the naked eye, at Byron, backing off after a few seconds; within a few seconds, Jellal managed to land at least twenty punches all around Byron's body.

"Wha?" Byron was caught off guard by the flurry of punches, letting out grunts as each one hit, but after a while, he had enough, and swung his gravity hammer, changing the gravy around Jellal to push him back, then swung it again to draw him in, raising it up, and slammed it down on the heavenly mage, creating a crater upon Jellal's impact to the ground. Byron shifted quickly, but he noticed that the no name members actually got a hold of Meredy as he landed on the ground, placing his foot on Jellal's chest to keep him from moving. "Well, looks like you guys aren't useless after all! Now then!" Byron raised his gravity hammer, and brought it down on Jellal.

.

.

The inside of the castle was even more worn down than the outside. The walls were falling apart, the carpets were torn, the floor was unstable at points; it was an unsafe environment all together. "Yeesh…what's up with this place…?" Blues said quietly.

"I dunno, but it kinda gives me the chills...I love it…!" Daryan said with a nod.

"I could fix this place up…" Zalen said to himself, gazing around at the worn down walls. "It would take some work, but there's no way it wouldn't be worth it…"

"Maybe when we finish this," Reve said to Zalen.

"What are we even looking for again?" Gray asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"And how are we going to find it in a place like this?" Blues continued.

"I think we'll know when we see it!" Daryan nodded.

"Oh, yeah, because that helps…" Reve groaned slightly, rolling his eyes. He stopped when a noise from behind a door caught his attention. "Hm…?"

"Anyone else hear that?" Bacchus asked.

"I heard it…" Erza replied.

"Tch, I got this…" Reve walked over to the side of the door, waiting for it to open. Within a few minutes, the door swung open, and a male that looked similar to Reve walked out; the only difference was this male looked a little classier than the gunslingers. "I got…you?" Reve blinked at the male standing in front of him, and so did everyone else.

"What?" The male turned, raising a brow at Reve. The two then began to mirror each other's actions, leaning to the left, the right, forward and back. After a few seconds, Reve used his quick draw ability to pull out his pistol, holding it to the male's forehead.

"Okay, who are you, what are you doing here, and why do you look just like me," Reve asked.

"First of all…" The male calmly used his finger to move the pistol away from his head. "I'm here on a job; you look like ME…as for the name? Rylo Yutaka, Ry for short, S class mage for Twilight Zone!"

"Twilight what now?" Blues blinked a few times.

"What's with people and guilds I've never heard about?" Reve lowered the gun, but he kept his eyes trained on Rylo in case the lookalike happened to try something.

"Are you SURE you're an S class mage?" Daryan asked, raising a brow.

"I don't think you can say that when everyone here doubts you…" Zalen coughed.

"Lemme guess," Rylo said, looking around at the group of wizards. "You're here looking for that thing that old person wants too, right?"

"Seems he got the job description right," Gray said over to Erza.

"That's right," Bacchus nodded.

Rylo gave a nod, then a smile, pointing in a direction. "Oh, well, follow me; I think I know exactly where it is!"


	6. Chapter 6: Job Fever Part 5

Natsu, Happy, Carla, Wendy, Cynthia, Luke, Heather, Lucy, and Magnus, defeated all the bandits that attempted to steal the precious, unknown element from the train, and it began moving towards the factory once again, thus causing the dragon slayers to get motion sick. Luckily for them, it didn't last long, as the train pulled into the factory about ten minutes after it started again. Natsu, Heather, and Cynthia hopped off the train rather excitedly to get off. "Oh, sweet ground! How I missed you so…!" Cynthia said with a happy voice, tempted to nuzzle the ground if it didn't look weird.

"It feels great being off the train!" Natsu nodded a few times, taking in the fresh air.

"For once, I agree with you," Heather replied, leaning against the nearest support beam.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news…" Magnus started. "But we're taking this train on the way back too…" And right after he said that, the dragon slayer's faces turned pale.

"You just haaaaad to say something, didn't you…?" Luke sighed.

"What?" Magnus looked over at Luke causelessly.

"Nothing…" Luke replied.

"At least everyone's okay!" Wendy said cheerfully. A few minutes passed, and the shipment of the unknown element was completed, and a worker walked up to the group, giving a nod.

"Thank you for protecting the shipment of Xerion," The work said.

"Xerion?" Lucy blinked, tilting her head. "Is that the stuff we were protecting?"

The worked nodded in response. "That's right; this new element is seemingly pretty rare, so we're going to be the first to test what it does."

"As long as nothing dangerous happens with it…" Carla mumbled to herself. After the brief discussion, the worker was the one who paid the group 70,000 jewel, a bag filled with that amount for each guild.

"Woo! I can finally pay for my rent!" Lucy grinned, holding the bag in the air.

"Hm, not a bad amount, if I do say so myself…" Magnus said to himself.

"We'll split it when we get back, alright?" Luke said to Heather, who simply nodded.

"Are we all ready to go?" Wendy asked, looking around.

Cynthia stuffed something into her pocket before giving a nod. "Ready!"

Heather raised an eyebrow, only catching Cynthia stuffing something into her pocket; she wasn't sure what it was, so she decided to keep quiet and turned to the train, groaning. "Here we go again…"

.

.

Diana teleported inside the Lamia Scale guild with an unconscious and brutally beaten Chelia over her shoulders, catching everyone inside off guard, "C-Chelia!?" Sherri gasped at this sight. "W-What happened!?"

"She's strong, but she's nothing compared to a true God Slayer," Diana replied, obviously referring to herself.

"What did you do?!" Lyon sprang up from his seat as a cyan magic circle appeared in front of him.

"She accepted a job I requested, I'm merely bringing her back to you," Diana said rudely, disgusted that she's been standing in a legal guild for so long. "You're just lucky she managed to injure me; if she hadn't, I would've killed her." With that, Diana tossed Chelia from her shoulders, but Sherri mananged to catch her cousin, holding back the tears.

"I don't know what job she went on, but the fact you threatened to kill her is all I have to hear! Ice Make: Eagle!" From the magic circle Lyon conjured up, several flying ice eagles shot out, and made their way to Diana.

"I really don't have time for this…" Diana sighed, shaking her head; she didn't even bother to deal with the ice eagles as a black magic circle appeared around her feet, turning her body into a shadow, and the eagles phased through her.

"W-What?!" Lyon watched as his eagles went right through Diana.

"I'm tempted to kill you all right now…but…I think one is enough for today…" Diana yawned, then as quickly as she appeared, she disappeared.

"What was that about?!" Yuka asked, looking between Lyon and Chelia.

"I don't know…but we can deal with that later, we have to make sure Chelia is alright first," Lyon replied, making a mental note to take revenge on Diana later.

.

.

"I wonder how Orga's doing on that job…" Yukino asked, sitting at a table while spinning a spoon around in cup filled with some type of beverage.

"I bet he's doing fine," Sting replied with a grin. "He is part of Sabertooth, after all!" Right after Sting spoke, Blake appeared in the center of the room, harshly throwing the beaten Orga to the ground.

"Here, I think your trash got legs and walked over to me, so I promptly returned it," Blake said.

"What?! Orga!" Yukino immediately ran over to Orga, kneeling down to examine him. "W-What did you do to him?"

"What does it look like I did?" Blake replied, shrugging.

"Jokester, huh?" Sting opened his mouth, a white ball of holy light forming. "White Dragon's Roar!" Sting threw his head forward, unleashing a holy ray of light in Blake's direction.

Blake smirked at the incoming beam of light. "A Dragon's light is nothing compared to a god's…" Blake said as he opened his mouth, inhaling Sting's dragon roar, causing the White Dragon Slayer's eyes to widen.

"W-What the!?" Sting took a step back, surprised that his roar was actually consumed. "Who are you!?"

"The White God Slayer…" Blake smirked; but instead of attacking, he merely vanished a quickly as he appeared.

"D-Damn…!" Sting ran over to Orga, supporting the bulky god slayer up along with Yukino. "We have to give him medical treatment, and fast…!"

.

.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia clung to Gray's waist and at the worst possible time as well. The S class mages were dealing with a large humanoid diamond golem, a security system for keeping unwanted guest out. Blues and Zalen were attempting to pry the water mage from Gray's waist.

"J-Juvia!?" Gray placed his hands on Juvia's shoulders, attempting to pry her away so he could breathe. "What are you doing here?!"

"Juvia needed to make sure Gray-sama was okay! And that Erza-san wasn't going to do anything!" Juvia replied hearts in her eyes as she clung to Gray tighter.

"She's made of water…!" Zalen started, gritting his teeth as he helped Blues attempt to pry of Juvia from Gray.

"But she has a grip of steel…!" Blues continued, groaning slightly, his eyes shut as he planted his feet into the ground.

"I never liked diamonds," Reve said to himself, mumbling "Stupid Selena" under his breath as he jumped back from the diamond golem's incoming fist; the fist created a large crater in the floor, and Reve requiped two assault rifles, letting loose a seemingly endless stream of bullets to the golem's chest, but the bullets didn't seem to have too much of an effect on the monstrosity.

Bacchus jumped on the golem's fist that was in the ground, quickly running up its arm as he focused magic energy into his palms, then lunged at the shoulder of the diamond golem, aiming to magic palm strikes at the shoulder. He made contact, but there wasn't any visible damage, which annoyed the Drunk just a little bit.

"Kanso!" Erza changed into her Black Wing armor, using the power of flight to her advantage as she flew around the diamond structured golem, aiming slashes all over its body, however, just like with everyone else's attacks, there were no visible signs of damage. As a reaction to the onslaught of attacks, the golem shook its body violently, forcing Bacchus off, and Erza to back away. The golem then swung its left arm, sending a multitude of diamond spears at all the S class mages.

"Heh…" Rylo smirked, placing his top hat on, seeing that this was the perfect chance to show his magical abilities. "Nothing up my sleeve!" Upon uttering these words a clear magic circle appeared in front of the S class wizards, and in front of Rylo, absorbing the projectile into the circle; seconds later, he allowed the magic circles to spit out the diamond spears back at the diamond golem, smirking with excitement as the spears connected, leaving tiny hairline cracks within the golem's body.

"Hm…" Daryan stood back, observing the golem's movements, the S class wizard's body language, and the golem's body. "Interesting…"

"Hey, bone guy!" Bacchus shouted, leaning his body back as he narrowly avoided yet another diamond spear. "Are ya gonna help us out or what!?"

"Give me a second…" Daryan replied. "Its anatomy is similar to that of the human body…So…if I were to…" Daryan reared his head back, a tan colored magic circle appearing in front of him. "Roar of the Skeletal Dragon!" Daryan threw his head forward, unleashing a vortex of small bones at the diamond golem's front, seemingly ineffective like the rest of the attacks thrown at it.

"Great, the one time he helps its useless…" Reve groaned slightly requipping his six chambered magnum in his hands. The golem raised its arm, but it stopped, it was unable to move any further. "What?"

"It stopped moving?" Erza raised a brow.

"Heh…" Daryan smirked. "It's just like a human body; attack certain parts, and they become paralyzed."

"Well I'll be damned," Bacchus said with a grin. "Looks like he knew what he was doing after all."

"So it can't move, that's great and all," Reve started, his eyes scanning for a weak spot. "But I don't see anything that will take this thing out in one shot."

"That's where you'd be wrong, gunslinger!" Daryan said confidently. "Bacchus, attack the center of the chest, Erza, follow up after with a slash!"

"He seems to know what he's doing…" Rylo thought to himself.

"Worth a shot!" Bacchus ran forward, jumping into the air as he focused a great amount of magical energy in his palm. "Chop Hanging Palm: Under Moonlight!" Bacchus slammed his palm into the chest of the diamond golem, the force causing it to stumble back, a crack appearing on its chest after Bacchus' strike.

"I see!" Erza flew up, holding her sword back as she dove towards the golem, slashing the crack Bacchus created on its chest, causing the crack to expand, now becoming plainly obvious to anyone with good vision.

"I see it!" Reve pointed his magnum at the diamond golem, and clicked the trigger. "Bang." As Reve clicked the trigger, a large bullet covering half the room shot out, striking the golem in the chest, shattering the golem into pieces of diamond that flew around the room.

"Got it!" With a final tug, Blues and Zalen managed to finally pry Juvia off, and landed on the floor. After taking a good look at Juvia, Blues got hearts in his eyes. "Oh hello…"

Juvia narrowed her eyes, leaning away from Blues. "Uhm…"

"Juvia?" Erza blinked, landing on the ground as she changed back into her Hearts Kruz armor. "What are you doing here?"

"Juvia just needed to make sure Gray-sama was okay!" Juvia nodded a few times.

"If you wanted to join, you could've asked…" Erza replied.

"Looks like you have a fan…" Rylo chuckled a bit.

"Oi…" Gray sighed.

"Anyway," Reve said, trying to get everyone back on task. "It looks like we're close to whatever we're looking for."

"Just behind that door," Blues said, pointing to the large double doors in front of them. "Bet."

"I don't think you need to bet to think that…" Daryan sighed, but decided to lead the way, pushing the double doors open. "And behind door number one is…" As soon as the doors opened, multiple shadow lances struck Daryan in the chest, blowing him into the wall across from the door.

"Daryan…!" Blues shouted, and then looked over at the door. Two unfamiliar figures walked from the doors; a female with long white hair, red eyes, and wore an orange jumpsuit with matching boots walked out, holding a sphere of magic in her hand with a smirk. Beside this female, another female approached; this one had long black hair that reached down to her waist, a pitch black jacket and pants, along with matching shoes, and a wilting flower on the center of her jacket.

"Well, well, look what we have here, Kiora…" The white haired female smirked, placing the magical sphere in her hand into her pocket.

"I see seven unlucky victims, Maggie," Kiora smirked.

"Maybe we should hand these wonderful guest a one way ticket," Maggie replied to Kiora, holding back the faintest of chuckles.

"Oh? To where, might I ask, Maggie?" Kiora asked, her tone somewhat mocking, but not to Maggie, to the seven wizards that stood before them.

"To the afterlife, of course."


	7. Chapter 7: End of the Jobs

"Ugh…" Meredy opened her eyes slowly, her vision blurry, her ears still ringing from the pain she took earlier. It was all a blur, but she tried to move, quickly finding out that she was unable to. She shook her head slightly, and her vision returned. She was in a dimly lit room, with her hands cuffed by magic sealing cuffs. "Where did they get these…?" Meredy asked herself, tugging at the cuffs, but to no avail. "Jellal…?" She looked around the room, realizing that she was the only one in there, and Jellal was nowhere in sight. Meredy's heart began to race, causing the pinkette to panic as she called out for her only other guild mate. "Jellal!"

"Oy!" The doors opened, and Byron walked down to the panicking Meredy, though his presence only caused her to panic even more. "Keep it down, will ya!"

"W-Where's Jellal?!" Meredy asked, more concerned for his wellbeing than hers at the moment.

Meredy's question only caused Byron to smirk. "Oh, don't worry about him. We'll all be having a big meeting once Master Jikan returns. Until then, you can stay down here nice and snug? Kehaha…" Byron chuckled before closing the door, leaving Meredy alone in the darkness.

.

.

"Tartaros…" Erza glared at the two mages, remembering that they were responsible for the attack on Fairy Tail six months ago.

"This is Tartaros?" Bacchus looked over at Erza. "What are they doin' in a place like this?"

"Whatever it is," Rylo started, adjusting his top hat slightly, his normally cool attitude replaced with a serious one, knowing Tartaros' reputation quite well. "I can tell it's not good…"

"Oh, and who might you be?" Kiora asked, looking over at Rylo.

"Heh…Twilight Zone's S Class Slight of Hand mage," Rylo replied.

"Twilight Zone? Never heard of it," Kiora yawned, waving a hand dismissively at Rylo.

"How should we deal with them?" Maggie asked, looking over at Kiora.

"Well, I was thinking…" Kiora started.

"HOLD IT!" A voice boomed throughout the room, causing everyone to look around.

"Who the hell…?" Kiora sneered. A few minutes later, three males in skin thin rubber suits with unusually large posteriors.

Erza gasped at the sight of the three males, recognizing them immediately, none other than the infamous Jiggle Butt Gang. "YOU!"

"WAH!" The leader of the Jiggle Butt Gang gasped at the sight of Erza, remembering what she did to them.

"…Who the hell are these guys?" Bacchus asked, making an odd face.

"And why do they smell like gas…" Blues said, pinching his nose while waving his hand to waft the stench of the three males away from him.

"We are, the Jiggle Butt Gang!" Lackey A said, rather proudly at that.

"Jiggle WHAT gang?" Reve raised a brow, wanting to make sure he heard the lackey correctly.

"Jiggle Butt Gang! Have you not heard of us!?" The leader asked. "Our evil ways have spread far and wide throughout Fiore!"

"By evil do you mean your gas…?" Rylo commented, taking a step back away from the three gang members.

"Well…this is…odd…" Maggie simply crossed her arms, watching the scene fold out in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" Erza asked, placing her hands on her sides.

"We heard about a magical sphere!" Lackey B said.

"And we're here to take it!" The leader continued, nodding firmly. The leader then turned around, pointing at Maggie. "We saw that YOU have it!"

"Yeah, I do," Maggie replied while rolling her eyes. "And what do you bloomin' tossers plan to do about it?"

"We plan to take it!" Lackey A said.

"By force!" Lackey B continued.

"Well…they're here for the same reason as us…kinda…" Zalen whispered.

"I'd rather they not be here at all…" Reve said.

Maggie brought her hand to her mouth, snickering for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. "REALLY!? You think you can stop me by force? What are you gonna do, fart on me?! AHAHA! That's a joke if I've ever heard one!"

"She's not taking us seriously, boss!" Lackey A said in a panicking voice.

"W-What do we do!?" Lackey B asked, looking at the leader for guidance."

"We'll show her our resolve!" The leader nodded firmly, then in one quick motion, jumped into the air, his butt now inches away from Maggie's face, causing everyone to attain wide eyes. "POINT BLANK…"

"HE WOULDN'T…" Zalen shouted.

"ECSTASY!" With the battle cry, the leader unleashed a powerful fume of gas in Maggie's face; when the assault of toxic fumes faded, Maggie was on the ground, her body twitching violently, the magical sphere rolling out of her pocket.

"HE FARTED ON HER…I CAN'T…" Blues was at a loss for words; never in his life had he seen such an action take place.

Erza shuddered faintly, remembering the same thing happen to her; but she didn't feel as bad about it as it was a Tartaros mage who suffered the same fate as she; so going back into focus now, Erza changed into her Purgatory Armor, now holding a giant club. "Moving on…"

The leader quickly grabbed the sphere, holding in his hands with a look of awe. "We did it!"

"Yeah, hi," Kiora already had her fist in her palm, and didn't waste any time firing off a Shadow Make: Lance, at the Jiggle Butt Gang, sending them flying through the roof of the castle, and into the distance, causing the leader to release the magical sphere, allowing it to roll in front of the S class wizard's feet. "Dammit…" Kiora face palmed, and then looked over at Maggie, who was still out from the Leader's point blank gas attack. "Great…"

"Well, looks like they weren't entirely pointless after all…" Reve said, leaning down to pick up the magical sphere. "Now, what are you gonna do?"

At the current situation, Kiora knew things weren't going well, thanks to the trio of butts that decided to interfere; so she lifted up Maggie, cursing at the unconscious lava mage for leaving herself open to such an attack. "Fucking…Ugh…We'll let you off this time, but don't expect to get so lucky next time…" Kiora said as a black magic seal appeared under her feet, engulfing her and Maggie in shadows, vanishing the next second.

"Well…that went well?" Blues blinked a few times.

"I'll say…" Zalen said whilst adjusting his glasses. After the "encounter" with the two Tartaros mages, the group of wizards finally made their way back to the house in which the job started, and handed over the magical orb to the old man. They all received the same reward, and proceeded to leave the house, glad they didn't have to listen to the old man rumble.

"Well this was fun," Daryan said with a few nods.

"Speak for yourself," Reve said while waving hand, already starting to leave with Zalen behind him.

"Well, it was nice meeting all of you," Rylo said with a nod and a half smile. "But, I do have to get going, bye!" Rylo nodded again, and then walked off.

Blues stood there, glancing over at Juvia with hearts in his eyes, oblivious to anything and everything around him. Bacchus walked over to the water dragon slayer and waved his hand in front of his face a few times, chuckling after getting no response. "Heh…" Bacchus then grabbed Blues by the back of his collar, dragging him off. "This was pretty wild, let's do it again sometime!" Bacchus said as he and Blues exited in the distance.

"I guess that's our cue," Erza said over to Gray and Juvia, giving a slight nod towards Daryan, showing that she was somewhat appreciative of the slight assistance he was able to offer before leaving the scene with Gray and Juvia.

"Heh…good show, Daryan, good show!" Daryan nodded confidently to himself. "The other will be pleased by my performance!" Daryan grinned, the started to walk into the distance towards his guild, Cosmic Star, with a spring in his step.


	8. Chapter 8

Natsu, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Lucy, and Cynthia all walked inside Fairy Tail after the completion of their train mission. Upon walking in, they noticed an S class mage of Fairy Tail standing near the bar; Fairy Tail's lightning dragon slayer, Laxus Dreyar. Natsu and Cynthia exchanged glances, then smiled deviously in unison. "LAXUS!" The both called out, causing Laxus to turn.

"Natsu? Cynthia?" Laxus raised a brow, holding his arms down at his side.

"FIGHT US!" Natsu and Cynthia both charged forward, fire wrapped around their fist as they charged forward towards the might S class mage.

Laxus sighed, raising both of his hands up as electricity started to spark wildly around them. "You two never quit…" And in one swift motion, Laxus slammed both his hands down on Cynthia and Natsu's head, slamming them into the guild floors, both knocked out.

"That didn't last very long…" Mirajane said with a faint snicker.

"S-Strong…" Cynthia said while twitching on the floor, swirls in her eyes. Just then, Erza, Juvia and Gray walked inside Fairy Tail.

"Oh, Erza, Gray!" Mirajane waved to the two wizards as they walked back inside, a sweet smile painted on her lips. "I assume all of your missions went well?"

"Hai!" Lucy said with a cheerful smile. "It went great! Though we ran into some White Eclipse members," Lucy said with a faint sigh.

"Oi, you too?" Gray asked, crossing his arms.

"Who did you guys run into?" Wendy asked.

"We ran into Reve and that one named Zalen," Erza replied, scowling just slightly that she had to mention Reve's name. "How about you?"

"Luke and Heather," Lucy replied, rolling her eyes.

"Well, it could've been worse," Gray said with a slight shrug.

"There was also that Magnus person…" Carla said.

"Who…?" Mirajane tilted her head slowly.

"Yeah," Happy chimed in. "He crushed my fish fantasies by saying what was in the train wasn't fish…!"

"…And to be more relevant…" Carla continued. "He said he was from a guild called Cosmic Star."

"Cosmic Star?" Makarov, who was listening in on the conversation, said with a confused voice.

"You too…?" Juvia blinked a few times. "There was a man named Daryan who claimed he was from the same guild.

"I've never heard of them," Laxus shrugged.

"Well, that Magnus guy said they formed about six months ago…" Cynthia said as she sat up, rubbing her head where Laxus' fist impacted.

"Six months ago?" Everyone in the guild turned at the particular timing.

Romeo tapped his chin a few times before it hit him, remembering that horrid day. "T-That was…"

"Yeah…" Cynthia frowned slightly, wanting to push out the memories of that day so desperately, but she never could.

"That's an interesting time to start up a guild…" Wakaba said, taking a puff out of his cigar after.

"I don't think we should think too much of it, really," Erza said.

"That Magnus guy was something else, though…" Wendy said.

"Eh? Why's that?" Cana asked, sitting cross legged on the floor with a barrel of beer between her legs. She then placed two hands on the side of the barrel and lifted it up, starting to drink from it once again.

"He had this amazing ability to predict everything!" Wendy said, her arms flailing slightly.

"Are you sure it wasn't just luck?" Laxus replied while raising a brow, speaking in a skeptical tone.

"No way! I can vouch that Wendy is right!" Lucy said. "He practically saved my hide with one of his predictions…!"

"I still call it luck," Laxus replied with a scoff, obviously refusing to believe such a feat was possible.

"It's most likely one of those things you'd have to see to believe," Reedus said from the background.

"Yeah, I'll believe it went I see it…" Laxus said with a roll of his eyes.

.

.

Back at White Eclipse, Adamantine stood across from Cygnus, who was in a battle ready position. Cygnus made the first move, pulling his arm back as gravity surrounded it to increase the power. Adam waited for Cygnus to get close, and then swung his leg a Cygnus's side, sending the demi god tumbling through the snow, in instant KO. "Hm…That didn't last as long as I thought it would…" Adam simply dusted his pants off before returning to his tower. "Someone pick him up," he said as he left. Luke and Heather walked up the mountain trail, both noticing the unconscious Cygnus, but neither choosing to pick him up, so they just walked inside.

"We're back," Luke said while immediately crashing on the couch.

"How'd it go?" Kairi asked, walking in from the kitchen.

"Aside from running into those Fairy Tail cretins…" Heather started. "It actually went quite well."

"Oi, let's not forget that Cosmic Star guy," Luke said while waving a hand. "That guy wasn't too bad…"

"New guilds just seem to be popping up from everywhere, don't they?" Zalen said as he and Reve walked in through the front doors.

"I hate them," Reve said with a scoff.

"Bad day?" Kairi asked Reve.

"Bad mages…" Reve sighed, rubbing his temples with a groan. "First that stupid Daryan guy, and then that one who looked just like me; I can't catch a break lately, can I?"

"It could be worse…?" Luke said with a shrug.

"Oh yeah?" Reve asked while raising a brow. "And how's that?"

"You could be Cyg," Luke replied, gesturing to the KO'ed Cygnus still lying in the snow"

Reve turned his head to look at Cyg and shrugged. "Good point."

.

.

In an undisclosed location, the two God Slayers, Blake and Diana, were tending to their injuries while talking about the battle they had with Chelia and Orga not too long ago. "The Sky God slayer…" Blake said to himself, though Diana could hear him.

"She has potential," Diana replied, shrugging off her minor injuries while looking over Blake. "She proved that when she used that last attack, she could kill someone with such a move."

"What about the Lightning God slayer?" Blake asked.

"Ehhh…" Diana made a slight face. "Potential is…there…but…it would take too much work to draw it out…"

"It's a shame we won't be able to call on the Sky God slayer once again; her power could prove useful…" Blake said.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that one, my dear," Diana replied with a sing song voice, a grin plastered over her face.

"Eh?" Blake looked over at Diana with a confused looked. "What did you do…?"

"Oh…that's easy…"

{Flashback}

After Chelia and Orga's defeat at the hands of the Black and White God slayer duo, they laid helpless on the ground. Chelia was ready to heal herself to continue fighting, but with Diana's heel pressed against her head, she knew it would be unwise to do so. Diana raised her finger, creating a tiny black sphere on the tip of it. "Don't worry; this won't hurt…too much…" After finding her guild mark, Diana pressed her finger to Chelia's ankle, sending a surge of darkness into the young girl, resulting in Chelia to let out a piercing screech of pain, but Diana quickly hushed the girl by slamming her heel into Chelia's head, resulting in a knock out.

{End flashback}

"Let's just say…that she'll see the truth when the time comes, and I'm positive she will come to us…"

.

.

In the southern mountains of Fiore, the S class mage of a new guild, Twilight Zone, traveled up. Rylo counted the jewels in his hand, pleased to see that it was in fact the correct amount, and pleased that he was able to meet mages from the more popular guilds. Upon reaching a clearing in the mountain, Rylo noticed the guild, Twilight Zone, and wasted no time in pushing the doors open. As soon as he did so, a yellow blur raced past him and into the guild, causing the cliché mage to blink. "Really, Flynn…?" Rylo sighed as he stepped inside, looking around for the culprit. He noticed a tall male with short blond hair reaching down to his neck conversing with a slightly shorter woman with green eyes and long black hair that reached down to her lower back, highlighted green towards the bottom of it. "What was my time!?" Flynn said quickly.

"…I don't know…" The woman replied, sighing slightly in annoyance.

"What!? Ah…I guess I shouldn't be too surprised…I am faster than a speeding magical bullet, after all," Flynn said with a cocky grin.

"You also manage to annoy me really quickly too…" The woman replied with a slight groan, crossing her arms under her chest.

"I can see I arrived at a good time," Rylo said with a slight chuckle.

"Hm?" The woman turned her head, giving a slight nod towards Rylo. "Oh, you're back."

"Hello, you two," Rylo said with a tip of his top hat. "The mission went well, thanks for asking."

"I didn't," The woman sighed before just walking off. This woman was Evanee Stalactite, the Stone Dragon slayer, and the ace of Twilight Zone.

"When did you get here, Ry?" Flynn asked, placing his hands behind his head.

"I…Never mind…" Rylo said with a sigh.


	9. Chapter 9: The Revival

In eastern Fiore, a large, two story mansion stood proud and all. This was the new guild, Cosmic Star. Daryan and Magnus met in front of the guild, and began exchanging their story about the jobs they took while they walked inside. "So, you made contact with Fairy Tail as well?" Magnus asked as he and Daryan walked inside Cosmic Star.

"Oh yeah, totally…!" Daryan replied with a nod. "I even got to meet wizards from the other guilds, such as White Eclipse, and Quatro Cerberus!"

"Don't you sound excited about that," Magnus said with a faint smile, noticing that no one else was inside the guild at the time. "Hm…it seems it's just use until the other few come back…"

"Well, tell me about our encounter then!" Daryan said, latching onto the ceiling.

Magnus shook his head slowly at Daryan's feat before recalling the events of the train escort. "Ah, I met four Fairy Tai members, and two White Eclipse members. Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragneel, Wendy Marvell, and Cynthia Vis-…er…she prefers Rose, my bad."

"Whoa, that's like, Team Natsu, right?" Daryan asked.

"You could say that; minus Scarlet and Fullbuster," Magnus replied. "I also met the infamous copycat mage, Luke Cloud, and his partner, Heather."

"Copycat mage?" Daryan blinked a few times, shuffling while staying latched to the ceiling.

"Yes, I despite copy cats," Magnus replied with a disgusted look. "Having to copy another's magic just so you can fight annoys me, but he is a strong mage, I suppose…but that doesn't excuse the act…"

"Yeesh, you need to chill out," Daryan replied with a shrug.

"How would you feel if he copied your magic?" Magnus asked, crossing his arms as he looked up at Daryan with a serious facial expression.

"…I'd probably eat his bones," Daryan replied in a nonchalant tone, shrugging once again after.

.

.

Who knows how long it had been seen Meredy saw any source of light at all. All she knew is that it had been a while as the door to the room opened, a bright light hitting her eyes, causing her to squint as her eyes started to readjust to the light. Her stomach growled; she hadn't been fed in a while, and perhaps that was about to change? "W-Who…?" Meredy said weakly, unable to muster too much strength from the starvation.

"Oi, she's still alive, Master Jikan," Veronica said from the top of the stairs.

"Bring her in," Jikan said from the room. "It's time…"

"Right!" Veronica grinned slightly at Meredy, lifting her hands up, using her telekinesis to lift the weakened girl into the air, pulling her forward. "You're in for a treat, girly!" Veronica said with a cheery voice, carrying Meredy upstairs, and into a large rectangular room. Upon entry, Meredy noticed a severely beaten Jellal on the ground; but he was indeed conscious; and an old lady chained by her arms and legs on a large circle propped up so everyone could see. Veronica then dropped Meredy.

"J-JELLAL!" Meredy's eyes widened at the sight of Jella, but he cracked a small smile seeing that Meredy was okay.

"M-Meredy…you're okay…" Jellal winced from the pain, but smiled nonetheless.

"Sure took a lot to get this fucker to talk…" Bryon said with a slight groan. "It was monotonous…and I couldn't get him to say anything…"

"Not like he had anything of importance," Horoki said while taking a puff of his cigar, smirking slightly. "But it was fun to beat the mighty Jellal within an inch of his life…"

"I didn't get to have a turn," Aloysius said with slight disappointment.

"T-The influence of Zeref…" Jellal managed to say through slow, heavy breaths, "It's strong…I can feel on you two…" He said, referring to Jikan and Aloysius.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me, Jellal," Aloysius said with a disgusted face. "The Tower of Heaven really did a number on you…"

"…!" Jellal's eyes widened; he now remembered this male. "You were…!"

"That doesn't matter right now, does it?" Aloysius interrupted, turning his attention to the old woman chained up. "Who is this?"

"Oh, I'm glad you noticed," Jikan said with a faint smirk.

"It's somewhat hard not too…" Myuu said silently.

"No kidding…" Byron added on. "Espeically when I've been sitting here for days making sure this woman didn't escape somehow…"

"Your work was most excellent, Byron," Jikan said with a nod. "Capturing Jellal and Meredy was also rather fine work. It will make this next event all the more sweeter."

"Who is this woman though?" Veronica asked while tapping her chin. "She doesn't look the least bit familiar…and I don't see why Horoki and I went through all the trouble of capturing her…"

"Oh, allow me to introduce you then…" Jikan walked in front of the woman, spreading his arms out as a colorless magic circle resembling a clock appeared. "There's a reason I wanted you two to hunt down this particular woman," Jikan said as the hour hand and the minute hand on the magic circle started to move slowly in a counterclockwise motion. "It's even better that I have you two here, Jellal Frenandes and Meredy." As Jikan spoke, the wrinkles on the woman slowly started to disappear, turning into soft, smooth skin. The gray hair on the woman's head turned lush, black, falling down to her waist. After the reversal was finished, Jellal and Meredy stood with widened eyes. "Ah…Silent Sanctum…I present to you…Ultear Milkovich."

"U-ULTEAR!" Meredy's eyes widened as she scrambled to her feet, attempting to run over to Ultear, but she was stopped by a telekinetic wall created by Veronica.

"Ultear…!" Jellal gasped as his eyes went as wide as Meredy's.

"Jellal…Meredy…" Ultear frowned over to the pair of mages who had been tortured.

"Well, well…" Byron smirked slightly. "I didn't know about that…"

"W-What are you doing with Ultear!?" Meredy screamed.

"Oh, the original intention was to surprise you," Jikan said with a devious smirk. "But, since you two are here, I figured I might as well show you."

"Let Ultear go!" Meredy scream out once again, tears flowing down her eyes from a mix of emotions. She was so happy to see Ultear, yet she was frustrated and everything else because of the current situation.

"Oh, don't worry…I will, in time," Jikan responded.

"In time?" Horoki blinked, looking over towards his master, and then Ultear, who was currently unable to do anything.

"This is the reason I was gone for so long…" Jikan said, pulling out a pitch black lacrima from seemingly nowhere. "Was because I needed to create this…"

"W-What's that…!?" Jellal asked.

"This, is a lacrima, my dear Jellal," Jikan responded. "Not just an ordinary Lacrima, no; I plan on using this to bring back that sadistic Ultear; the one who lead the 7 Kin of Purgatory."

Ultear's eyes widened at Jikan's statement, causing her to frantically shake her head. "N-No! Don't do that…Anything but that…!"

"Oh, I could do a lot of things to you right now, Ultear," Jikan said with a smirk that grew darker and wider by the second. "But I think this is the appropriate course of action."

"B-But…!" Ultear started to object; the fear of going down the path of darkness starting to get to her. "I-I just washed away all of my sins…!"

"Do you really believe that?" Jikan interrupted. "I know it was you who turned the clock back when the dragons attacked."

"U-Ultear did what…?!" Meredy looked over at Ultear.

"She what…?" Jellal groaned slightly before sitting up, looking up at Ultear.

"H-How did you…" Ultear looked over at Jikan in shock as the Silent Sanctum members just watched.

"You are not the only time manipulator in Fiore, Ultear," Jikan said with a faint yawn, quickly growing bored of the current conversation. "I could feel the change in time, obviously...and I must say, even with your attempt at atonement, you were only able to turn the clock back a minute…just sixty seconds…a shame, isn't it…?"

"Stop talking to her like that!" Meredy shouted.

Jikan ignored Meredy as he allowed the lacrima to float closer Ultear, causing the time magic to attempt to break out of her restraints, failing to do so. "Oh, don't worry…this shouldn't hurt too much…"

"S-Stop…!" Ultear's eyes widened as the lacrima entered her body, causing black sparks to erupt from everywhere.

.

.

Within the depths of Hell itself, Tartaros had their own plans in which they were discussing. Maggie, Kiora, Ruika, Tobias, and Rugal, a member who hadn't been seen during the Fiore's End crisis, were discussing their plan of action along with the guild master of Tartaros, Daityas. "How is it you two can fail a mission and get off just fine but when I were to fail a mission I get hell for it!?" Tobias shouted at Maggie and Kiora.

"First off," Kiora started. "No one likes you. And second off…WHO THE FUCK SAID YOU COULD SPEAK, TOBIAS?" Tobias went quietly instantly after that comment.

"That's what I thought," Kiora said with a slight smirk.

"That mission wasn't critical anyway," Daityas said to answer Tobias' question. "We can still do what I have planned with or without that magical sphere; it will just take a while longer. But as long as it gets done, it doesn't matter to me."

Rugal was a tall male with green hair, and a green beard. He also had a katana strapped to his back, which he did use in combat. "If I may ask," Rugal started, looking over towards Daityas.

"Simple," Daityas started. "I am looking for those who were and still are a part of Grimore Heart."

"Grimore Heart?" Ruika raised a brow, crossing her arms as she looked towards Daityas. "Wasn't that the guild that ended up losing to Fairy Tail?"

"Why not revive something like the Oracion Seis?" Maggie asked.

"All of their members were defeated by Fairy Tail, twice I might add," Daityas said. "Not to mention that their members have scattered, or are in prison. Grimore Heart, however…"

"What purpose could finding those bloody nutters have?" Maggie asked, obviously curious along with the rest of the Tararos members.

"You'll see in time," Daityas replied. "Either way, there are only three members of the guild who are still a part of it and who are still alive."

"That would be Rustyrose, Kain Hikaru, and Bluenote Stinger, yes?" Rugal asked.

"That is correct," Daityas nodded. "The ones who currently deceased are Zancrow and Azuma…"

"They died on the island, however…" Rugal responded.

"And finally, there's Meredy and Ultear, but I doubt they'll be returning to Grimore Heart," Daiyas continued.

"A few things…" Tobias said, speaking quickly so he wouldn't be forced to shut up once more. "First, there has been no sign of Rustyrose, Kain, or Bluenote just after Tenoru Island was destroyed…And Tenoru Island has gone dark after the Tenoru Team returned from their 7 year stasis…"

"I am aware of this…" Daityas said. "However, this doesn't mean we won't be able to retrieve the bodies."

"Yes…" Rugal said with a smirk forming on his lips. "Allow me to assist with this operation…no matter how well hidden an island may be…it cannot hide from the Dimensional Mage…"

"Ah…excellent…" A confident smirk appeared on Daityas' lips. "I will entrust the objective of finding Zancrow and Azuma to you then, Rugal. As for finding the other three…I will give that mission to Mithril, and Ruika."

"Mithril's gonna eat them if given the chance…" Ruika replied. "But, it is being better than being paired with Tobias…"

"Okay you know what…" Tobias started.

"SHUT UP, TOBIAS!" Everyone but Rugal screamed, causing Tobias to go quiet once again, just about instantly this time.

"Moving onto more important matters…" Daityas started. "Once you find those members of Grimore Heart, bring them here, by force if need be, obviously. And if any of you happen to run into Ultear and Meredy, feel free to bring them back here as well, I can do something about their disgusting change to the light…does everyone understand their missions?"

"I will start looking as soon as possible," Rugal nodded.

"Cook dinner first, wanker," Maggie ordered.

"Right after I cook dinner…" Rugal nodded, and went over into the kitchen, beginning to cook dinner.

"I will awaken Mithril from his slumber to tell him what is happening soon," Daityas nodded, leaving the main area, which was the castle, and went towards one of the towers. He opened the door slowly, and behind the doors was nothing surprising to him; just a slumbering dragon, who was no doubt going to be hungry once he woke. "Mithril, rise; I have a job for you."


	10. Chapter 10

Ultear stood proudly with the old dark aura she had long left behind 7 years ago. Her eyes showed no remorse to the Jellal standing before her; Meredy, however, was a different story. Even when the woman was evil, Meredy always had a special place in her heart, and she wanted Meredy to join her on the path to darkness once more. Ultear held her hand out to Meredy, speaking softly. "Come, Meredy…join me…"

"U-Ul…" Meredy couldn't help the tears flowing down her eyes; she never wanted to see this side of Ultear again, and she knew that Ultear was forced to act this way. "Y-You don't have to act like this…this isn't you, Ultear…!"

"Oh, don't even bother trying to talk to her…" Jikan said with an amused smile. "Your words won't get through to her." Though, Jikan was quickly proven wrong for a split second as Ultear closed one eye, black sparks dancing around her body as she almost withdrew her hand.

"You sure about that…Master?" Horoki asked.

"Hm…perhaps there need to be modifications to this…or perhaps Meredy can join?" Jikan asked, looking over towards Ultear.

"N-No…L-Leave Meredy…" It was clear Ultear was still struggling to resist the effects of the dark lacrima in her body, but it was a battle she was losing. But with Meredy in possible danger, she had to keep fighting.

"She's fighting it, Master…" Veronica said while tapping her foot.

"I can see that, Veronica…" Jikan said with a somewhat annoyed tone. "Alright, since you won't join…Byron, get rid of them."

Byron grinned, a heavenly light surrounding his hands as his Exploding Hammer manifested out of nowhere. "Aye, sir!" Byron kicked Jellal over to Meredy, and then held the hammer like a golf club. "FOUR!" Byron swung the Exploding Hammer forward, causing a large explosion that destroyed part of the building and sent Jellal and Meredy flying.

"You're fixing that," Aloysius said.

"Dammit that's the sixth time…" Byron groaned.

.

.

Skye was sleeping peacefully in her bed; it was the middle of the night, and not a soul was awake. She then shot awake, but without a sound. She sat up, in a sort of trance-like state, and then hopped off her bed, and dug into her drawer for something. She pulled out an assassin's uniform, and slipped it on without a word. She then snuck out her window, and went down the snowy mountain trail, now even leaving a footstep behind her. She went to Magnolia, though she crept silently, not making a word or sound with her movements, and she made sure to stay out of sight, in case a passerby happened to spot her. She hopped up onto a roof, and then spotted a person sleeping in an open window. With precision timing, she jumped from the roof, and into the open window. Still remaining silent, she held her hands out as two short blades appeared. These blades made no sound as they cut through the air, and Skye did the unthinkable. She raised her blades, and brought them down on the sleeping person…

.

.

Tenoru Island, the home of the ghost of Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion, was quite a peaceful place, especially after the war between Fairy Tail, Grimore Heart, and Zeref took palce seven years ago, and when the most powerful dragon attacked the island, seemingly leaving it for nothing. Though it was supposed to remain in the dark after the Tenoru team was found, that didn't remain for long. A portal opened up, and Rugal stepped out of it, a smirk on his face. "So…this is the famous Tenorujima Island…" Rugal said to himself as he looked around. "I cannot lie; it is a nice place…"

The spirit of Mavis, who was sitting on a tree branch, felt the malevolent force intrude on her island, causing her to perk up, looking around frantically. "W-What…?" Mavis hopped down, noticing Rugal walking around the island. "W-Who are you!? How did you get here!?" Mavis shouted; but she then remembered that only members of Fairy Tail could see or hear her, barring a few exceptions. "What is he doing…?" Mavis followed Rugal around curiously, hoping that he wouldn't do anything to the island.

"According to the information, Zancrow was killed by Zeref in on this part of the island after his defeat to Natsu Dragneel…" Rugal said to himself as he continued walk around.

"He's looking for Grimore Heart…?" Mavis said quietly to herself, watching Rugal carefully. "Why would he be doing such a thing…?"

After a while of walking around, Rugal found the slightly decayed body of the Flame God Slayer, Zancrow. "Ah, this must be him…The seven year stop must have prevented his body from decaying completely…" Rugal nodded to himself then snapped his fingers, creating a portal that sucked in Zancrow's body. The portal then shrunk into the size of a marble, to which Rugal placed in his pocket. "Alright, that's one…" Rugal then looked towards the giant tree that stood tall in the center of the island. "And that is where Azuma's body should be…"

.

.

Cynthia held a smooth, black colored oval shape metal in her hand. She examined the metal, tilting her head every so often to get a better view. "Hm…I don't see what's so special about this metal…"

"Metal?" Gajeel said, drawn over to the word, now leaning over Cynthia's shoulder to see what she was doing. "What'cha got there, kid?"

"Gah!" Cynthia jumped at Gajeel's voice, turning around and hiding the metal behind her back. "N-Nothing!"

"Tch, don't lie, kid. I saw it, and I can smell it…smells kinda weird…" Gajeel said while crossing his arms.

"…It's mine, get your own." Cynthia said while crossing her arms.

"Well aren't we grumpy today? Gihehe…" Gajeel smirked slightly at Cynthia's grumpy attitude.

"No one's supposed to know I have it…!" Cynthia flailed her arms around.

"What IS it?" Gajeel asked once again, his patience beginning to run thin.

"Ugh…fine…it's this new element called Exerion…" Cynthia nodded slowly, deciding to stick with just that part of the story. "I found it while I was on the job with Wendy on the others!"

"Was that so bad?" Gajeel asked.

"Yes…now…if you'll excuse me…!" Cynthia shoved the Exerion in her pocket, and quickly hopped out the guild doors. She didn't know where she was going, but she decided that she would pay Lucy a visit, just to say hello. As Cynthia walked, she noticed a group of Councilmen surrounding a house, and her curiosity got the better of her, so she decided to check it out. "What happened here…?" Cynthia mumbled to herself.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, walking up with Natsu while carrying some groceries.

"Oh! Lucy, Natsu!" Cynthia waved to her two fellow guild mates, ushering them to come over.

Councilmen Correll and Lahar walked from the house, shaking their heads in disappointment. "That's the sixth murder this month…" Lahar said to Correl, giving a sigh.

"This is starting to irritate me," Correll said while punching the air a few times. "The criminal who thinks they can get away with murder in this country every other week has another thing coming."

"T-There was a murder here?!" Lucy said aloud, alerting Correll and Lahar of her presence.

"Oi, Fairy Tail…" Correll sighed slightly, deciding to walk on over to the wizards, using his hand to shoo them away. "Run along, nothing to see here."

"You just said there was a murder here!" Cynthia flailed her arms around.

"Nothing to see that concerns you," Correll corrected himself. "Now get outta here before I arrest you three for disturbing the peace."

"W-What!? But we haven't done anything!" Lucy shouted.

"Well, actually," Lahar started. "It may concern them, Correll."

"Oh? How so?" Correll turned his head to look at Lahar, raising a brow.

"They live in the area, do they not? The assassin may come to them," Lahar said with a stern nod.

"Assassin…?" Natsu raised a brow. "What's this about an assassin? Who's ass do I have to kick!?"

"Calm down, Dragneel, and listen for once," Correll said in a demanding, yet mocking tone, knowing if Natsu tried anything against him he could have the rambunctious dragon slayer arrested.

"TCH…" Natsu crossed his arms, and then looked away.

"You see," Lahar started. "Recently, there have been a string of murders occurring within this very town; Correll and I have deduced that it is in fact the very same person committing these murders."

"How do you figure that?" Cynthia asked while raising a brow.

"The assassin has left a particular mark on all of their victims; the markings on each victim are exactly the same, barring the location on their body," Lahar continued.

"How do we protect ourselves from this assassin…?" Lucy asked as her heart sank somewhat, feeling that she could very well be next.

"The attacks are random, always at night, and the people who are attacked don't hold any significance we know about," Correll explained. "In short, it's impossible to tell when, where, or who is next."

"Isn't that wonderful…" Lucy sighed.

"Don't worry; no assassin will be getting anyone from Fairy Tail…" Natsu said.

"Don't be so sure about that, Dragneel," Correll said with a large before he and Lahar went back to investigating.

"An assassin, huh…?" Lucy looked up to the sky. "I hope no one else gets killed…"

.

.

Skye was fast asleep on her bed, in her normal attire. She sneezed, causing her to wake up, but in a mostly sleepy state. "That was weird…" Skye groaned slightly before falling back asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Melody calmly placed her fist into her palm, trying to remember what it was she could do with this magic of hers she could just barely remember. "What as it…Silver Make….uhm…uh…" Melody them stomped her foot in frustration, highly annoyed that she couldn't remember her own magic. "Ugh! This is pointless!"

"Relax," Kagura said calmly, watching Melody from a distant.

"I-I can't! It's too frustrating…!" Melody replied, crossing her arms, puffing her cheeks out with a frown.

"That's why you have to relax, calm yourself, and try again," Kagura said while crossing her arms.

Melody sighed, nodding slowly as she tried again, calmly placing her fist into her palm, allowing her body to relax. She took a deep breath, and looked forward towards a bunch of targets. "Silver Make: Arrows!" A silver magic circle appeared in front of Melody, releasing several silver arrows onto the targets. The arrows landed on the targets, but not on the bull's-eye, which caused Melody to huff a bit. "Darn it…!"

"It's a start," Kagura nodded slowly, moving her hand to move some of her hair out of her face. "With practice, you'll be able to hit them."

"Thank you, Kagura-san!" Melody nodded cheerfully, giving Kagura a warm smile.

Kagura nodded as a response, thinking to herself for a few seconds and returned inside Mermaid Heel, where Risley was waiting with important news. "Did you find anything out?"

"Her past is pretty dark," Risley replied with a nod. "There's nothing much to go off of, but it seems as though she wasn't the best person before she lost her memory."

"I see…" Kagura crossed her arms, tapping her foot slowly.

"What do you think we should do with her?" Risley asked.

"We'll wait and see what happens…" Kagura replied, looking back out the window to see Melody getting the hang of her magic slowly. "It's the only thing we can really do."

As the two mages conversed, a faint memory crossed Melody's memory, causing her to stop. She didn't know what the memory even was, but she winced as she rubbed her stomach. "A stomach wound...?" Melody said quietly to herself.

.

.

Rugal continued his trek though Tenoru Island; surprised at the lack of activity on it. There were animals, but they seemed to be hiding from him. "Hm…" Rugal said to himself as he arrived at the base of the large tree that practically made the island. "This is the area…now, where is the body…?"

"There's nothing he can do with those bodies…why waste his time coming here to look for them in the first place…?" Mavis thought to herself.

Rugal continued walking until he noticed…something off. It was a body, but it seemed as though it had merged with the ground, as plants were growing over the somewhat decaying body. "Hm…this one looks a little more difficult…" Rugal extended his arm slowly, opening his palm, facing Azuma's body. Rugal then formed a portal around Azuma's body, drawing it in to the portal, and the closed it, shrinking it to the size of marble, which he placed into his pocket. "Now, to report back to Dait…" Rugal nodded to himself as a portal appeared under his feet, drawing him in, and teleporting him out.

"That's not good…" Mavis said to herself. "I have to warn them..."

.

.

At White Eclipse, Jaxon was just finishing up reading the newspaper, a deep frown on his face. At the same time, Waiston and Kuro walked into the room, both original members noticing the look on his face. "What's wrong, Jaxon?" Waiston asked.

"Oi, Waiston, Kuro…" Jaxon started. "Did you read the news?"

"News?" Kuro asked, tilting his head slightly while consuming a bowl of noodles. "No, why?"

"Oh, well, it appears that people have been getting killed in Magnolia in the middle of the night by an assassin…" Jaxon said.

"W-What?" Waiston was taken aback by the news. "An assassin?"

"Yeah, it's been quite a string of murders, too…" Jaxon said.

"I wonder who could do such a thing…" Kuro said with a heavy frown. Just then, the front doors opened; Takeru and Arc walked in, no injuries, fresh, quite a sight considering what the two had gone through. "Takeru-san! Arc!" Kuro said with a smile.

"Hello," Takeru said with a slight wave. A bullet then raced towards Takeru's arm, but he was just fast enough to avoid it. "What the hell!?"

"Stand still and take your punishment," Reve said from the second floor, a simple pistol in his hand.

"Punishment…?" It took Takeru a few seconds to register what Reve meant until it hit him…literally. A bullet slammed into Takeru's right pectoral, but it was nothing lethal, just a powerful hit, which caused Takeru to stumble back. "O-Oh…dammit…that…yeah…"

"You too, Arc," Reve said, shifting his pistol to Arc, who just stood there, nodding. Reve fired the pistol, sending a magical bullet at Arc's head, which made contact; though the demon slater didn't react. "Tch…You two are just lucky the old man's busy, and that Sidney is currently away on a mission."

"Lucky us…" Takeru said while rubbing his arm.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they catch wind of this too," Reve said with a smirk before walking off.

"Welcome back, you two," Jaxon said with a nod. "I know it was against the rules, but how did the missions go?"

"They went fine," Takeru replied quickly, looking over at Arc before rubbing the back of his head. "I have to go…do something…yeah…" Takeru then walked out the front doors, and into his tower, Arc following behind him.

"That was odd…" Waiston tilted his head slightly.

In the tower, Takeru sat on his bed, sighing just slightly as he looked up at Arc. "I had to do it, you know…"

"I know," Arc replied with a nod. "Well, you didn't have to, but I am thankful that you did…"

"I'm not sure how I'm going to tell the others without worrying them," Takeru said while looking down at the floor.

"How much time do you have?" Arc asked while crossing his arms.

"About a year," Takeru responded, letting out a heavy sigh after.

"I see…" Arc simply nodded.

.

.

"I'll make this quick, Evanee!" Flynn said with a smirk, stretching his legs out as he stared down the ace of Twilight Zone with a confident smirk.

"It'll be the other way around, watch…" Rylo said with a snicker to one of the other members of Twilight Zone, a female with blonde hair that reached down to the center of her back, green eyes, and she wore a green, sleeveless shirt, along with green pants to match. This was Melanie Hasani of Twlight Zone, and she was yet another Dragon Slayer, a water one, to be exact.

"Go Fynn! Go Evanne!" Melanie said with a cheerful tone.

"It'll be interesting to see if he can put his money where his mouth is in terms of his speed," Yet another member spoke. Alexander Khan, specialist in War God magic, said. Alexander's standard outfit consisted of a small gray vest that had two gauntlets on his arms, a green shirt, and black pants. His hair was short and black, only reaching down to his neck, and a small part of it was a different color, a lightish green, if you would.

"You can do it, Evanee-chwan!" Another female said. This female had long seaweed-green hair that reached down to her waist, and brown eyes. This girl's full name was Tsami Julie Vasquez the III. A mouthful, right? Well, she prefers to be called Sam, and she is a mage of light manipulation.

"I told you to stop calling me that..." Evanee said with a slight groan over to Tsami.

Next to Sam, there was yet another male with a top hat, though his was slightly tilted, revealing his red eyes, and his snow white hair. This male was Taranis, the Lightning Demon Slayer of Twilight Zone. "He can move faster than she can blink, but she's the ace here as well...I wonder how effective his speed will be..." Taranis said to his other guild mates.

"Well," another male said; this one much different from the rest. He had slightly gray hair, and light purple eyes; though the color depended on the lighting. He also reached to about 6"2, which was just a few inches taller than Flynn. This male was the master of Twilight Zone; Caelestis. "Ev is no easy opponent, obviously. And I think Flynn could do a lot better in the speed department."

"Try to keep up…!" Flynn got into a running position, and then blasted forward. His speed was impressive…to a normal mage that is. As soon as Flynn reached the stone dragon slayer, he threw a hard kick to her side, just wanting to test the waters.

Evanee merely sighed, but she made sure to keep her eyes on Flynn. She brought her arm up just in time to block Flynn's kick, causing Flynn's leg to hit her forearm, not even leaving a bruise, or any mark for that matter. "Is that all?" Evanee reared her own fist back, stones starting to surround it; she then threw her stone fist at Flynn's face, landing a direct hit.

"Gah..!" Flynn, though as fast as he may be, had no time to react to the stone fist Evanne threw at him, so he slid back across the gravel, eventually turning into a tumble, but he caught himself, shaking off the impact slightly. "Whoa…that hurt…" Flynn got into a running position yet again, this time planning something else. "Try this…!" Flynn speed off once again, this time like a blur. Only this time he didn't appear in front of her, no, this time he circled around the ace, aiming a high kick to the back of her head; Flynn was slightly taller than Evanee, and he made use of his height advantage to ensure he landed the hit. "Got'cha!"

Evanee stood still as Flynn ran forward; she felt the gush of wind left behind as Flynn ran behind her, and that was all the indication she needed to know what the speeding mage was planning next. "Good effort," Evanee said while shifting her upper body to the side, just avoiding the kick Flynn sent. Without looking, Evanee then leaned back, slamming her elbow into Flynn's chest, causing Flynn to stumble back once again, panting heavily.

"D-Darn it…she's predicting my movements by using them against me…In that case…" Flynn smirked as a magic circle appeared under him. This magic circle created a field that slowed down everyone's perception of time, making Flynn appear much faster than he already was. "Keep up…" Flynn smirked, charging at Evanne once again, circling around to her front, and actually landed a punch to her midsection, causing her to take a tiny step back, leaving Flynn smirking. "I landed a hit!" And just like that, another stone fist slammed into Flynn's stomach, forcing him to double over. His speed and attitude got the better of him, and left him open for two hits, the first which already happened, and the second, which was another fist to his face, sending Flynn tumbling across the gravel, now in KO.

"That was fast…" Alexander blinked a few times.

"They both did great!" Melanie said with a smile.

"He lasted about…two minutes." Rylo nodded.

With a yawn, Evanee nodded towards the unconscious Flynn, and then stepped back inside the guild. "Someone pick him up."

Tarnaris watched as Evanee went back inside, his eyes on her posterior. "Do she got a booty...?" Tarnaris said to himself with a slight smirk. "She doooooo..."


	12. Chapter 12

Rustyrose, Kain, and Bluenote stared at the Tartaros mages standing in front of the Grimore Heart airship. They were unsure what the mages wanted with them, but if they were legal guild members, they figured they would make quick work of them. Rustyrose was the first one to speak, running a hand through his hair quickly before doing so. "Oh, what've we here? A bunch of legal guild members looking for a one way trip to Hell?

"HA! That's a joke if I've ever heard one," Ruika said with a giggle, actually amused by Rustyrose's threat.

"They look tasty…" Mithril, who was in his human form, which included well over 6 feet of height light reddish hair, and larger than normal human clothing, said under his breath, resisting the urge to eat the three standing before him and Ruika, despite the fact they weren't teenage females who happened to be virgins; a dragon and demon's favorite food.

"T-TheythinktheycanmesswithGrimoreHeart?" Kain said with his speaking too fast for anyone to catch.

"…What did he say?" Ruika looked at Rustyrose and Bluenote, who both had nothing to say.

"Ah, if only Meredy was around," Rustyrose said while using two fingers to adjust his glasses. "She would always translate for us with the exquisite tongues."

"Yeah, that's great and all…" Ruika started, only concerned with the task she was assigned. "But we're not here to listen to your nostalgia."

"Speak quickly then," Bluenote said while crossing his arms. "Otherwise, I'll make sure you two fly…"

"Mithril can fly without your petty assistance…" Ruika said before getting to the point. "We are of Tartaros, and our master wishes to revive what he can of Grimore Heart."

"Revival of Grimore Heart, you say?" This caught Rustyrose's attention as he once again fixed his glasses, now looking at Ruikia and Mithril with interesting. "I ask, why would the master of the now infamous dark guild wish to revive us?"

"I don't know the details, but it would be wise to listen to his suggestion," Ruika said.

"And if we were to refuse?" Bluenote asked.

"We'd drag you there by force, obviously," Ruika replied.

"Or I could just eat you…" Mithril said; his words striking some fear into Kain.

"Tartaros has gotten stronger over the years…I do believe it would be in our best interest to accept their proposal, wouldn't you agree?" Rustyrose asked his fellow companions. "Besides, they may be able to help us with that decaying body that's been inside the ship for the longest time…"

Bluenote thought for a few seconds before giving a slight nod. "As current leader of Grimore Heart, I say we will accept Tartaros' proposal, and see what they have to offer us."

"Excellent; that makes things much easier; Follow us," Ruika said with a nod.

.

.

"I have returned," Rugal said as he stepped out a portal that appeared in the middle of a large room in the castle that was Tartaros. Rugal pulled out the pocket dimension marbles and placed them on a nearby table.

"Ah, Rugal," Tobias nodded at Rugal as he returned. "Did you find the bodies?"

"Indeed I have," Rugal nodded. "Though they have both started to decay…"

"Don't worry about that," Daityas said as he walked into the room. "Place the Flame God Slayer right there," Daityas pointed to the center of the room, and Rugal nodded.

"Of course," Rugal grabbed the dimensional marble that held Zancrow and placed it on the floor, snapping his fingers to release the dead body of Zancrow onto the center of the room. Rugal then took a few steps back as Daityas took a few steps forward.

"Now then…" Daityas held his hands out as Hell's flames began to form around Zancrow's decaying body in a circle. A few seconds after, Daityas began a simple incantation, causing the flames to burn brighter and larger. "The flames of hell will bring this one to life once more…" Daityas said quietly. Right after he said that, the flames vanished, and color returned to Zancrow's skin. Zancrow's eyes didn't reopen just immediately, but under his eyelids, his blank expression changed, and his red, insane eyes appeared once again.

"Did it work…?" Tobias asked, looking over at Zancrow.

"Shut the fuck up, Tobias," Maggie said immediately before looking over at Daityas. "Did it work?"

"We're about to see," Daityas replied.

All remained silent for a few minutes, but then a faint, psychotic laughter started to fill the room. "Haha...hahahahaha…."

"The hell…?" Maggie looked around, searching for the source of the laughter before her eyes locked on Zancrow's body.

"Hahaha…Hahahaha…HAHAHAHAHA!" Zancrow hopped up as black flames surrounded his body, giving him an intimidating appearance. "The Flame God Slayer has returned! HAHAHAHA!"

"Can this nutter be any louder…?" Maggie said while rubbing her ears.

"Zancrow," Daityas said in a calm voice, catching the Flame God Slayer's attention.

"And who are you?" Zancrow asked, tilting his head slowly.

"The King of Hell; you'd do well to respect me," Daityas said.

"Hell, hm?" Zancrow gave a mocking chuckle. "That's cute…I've heard Hell has powerful flames; but those flames are nothing compared to those of a god!"

"And he's already thinking he's better…" Kiora said with an amused smile. "This should provide for some nice entertainment…"

"Would you like to test that theory?" Daityas said while crossing his arms.

"Gladly!" Zancrow grinned, taking a deep breath as a psychotic grin formed over his face.

"He's actually gonna do it…" Rugal said with a surprised tone.

"This'll be good…" Maggie said with a grin.

"Flame God's Bellow!" Zancrow threw his head forward, unleashing a torrent of black flames towards Daityas.

Daityas merely sighed, opening his mouth, inhaling Zancrow's Flame God Bellow with relative ease, making a slightly disgusted face after. "These flames taste like shit," Daityas said as he wiped his mouth, leaving Zancrow standing there with a shocked expression.

"W-What?! That shouldn't be possible!" Zancrow said while growling.

"The flames of Hell are nothing compared to the flames of a god, you say?" Daityas asked, pointing his hand down as a magic circle appeared under Zancrow, unleashing red flames on him. Zancrow tried to eat the flames, but he found that he was unable to do so, and he held in a cry of pain until the flames faded by Daityas' hand.

"W-What…I should be able to eat those!" Zancrow shouted in frustration.

"Eating the flames of Hell? Interesting for a mortal such as yourself, but impossible, nonetheless," Daityas replied.

"What the hell do you mean by "Mortal!?"" Zancrow asked, sneering at Daityas.

"First off," Daityas started. "Do not raise your voice at me again, unless you want a second trip to Hell, in which I will eat your soul there, and secondly, I told you, I am the king of Hell, the master of Tartaros. Hell's fire demon, Daityas."

"Fire demon? Now you're just making this shit up..." Zancrow said in disbelief.

"Are you asking for me to set you ablaze once again, Zancrow?" Daityas asked while raising a brow. "Because I'd personally love to see the mighty Flame God Slayer burn to ashes."

"T-Tch..." Zancrow had no witty remark this time around, he just stayed silent.

"Now then, onto Azuma,". Daityas said while cracking his knuckles.

.

.

At Quatro Cerberus, Blues was sitting next to a male with white hair, ocean blue eyes, and he wore a blue jacket, and blue pants. For some reason, the male shivered just slightly as a chill crawled up his spine. Blues looked over at the male with a somewhat worried look. "Oi, Kuro, you okay?"

"Yeah..." Kuro nodded slowly, shaking his head. "Just a weird chill, that's all." Kuro then sat up, and went over to the request board. "I'll just take a job, get some fresh air…" Kuro scanned the board until an odd request hit his eye, and he grabbed it. "God slayers only, eh…?"

"NO!" Blues lunged up, shaking his head rapidly. "I advise you not to take that one!"

"Eh?" Kuro looked over at Blues with a quizzical expression painted over his features. "Why not?"

"I heard Lamia Scale's Sky God Slayer and Sabertooth's Lightning God Slayer went on the same job and ended up getting beaten by the ones who issued this job!" Blues replied.

"Hm…Two God slayers defeated…?" Kuro pondered this for a second before he nodded. "Alright, fine…I won't take this job…for now, at least…" Kuro mumbled that last part, but he looked towards Blues with a smile. "How about we go on one then? Water DragonGod Duo, just like old times, eh?"

"Now that sounds pretty wild," Blues said with a grin.

.

.

Kiora and Rustyrose circled around each other, giving each other an odd look as they did so. "My, my, what a lovely lady…" Rustyrose said while adjusting his glasses.

"Keep your eyes to yourself," Kiora started while giving Rustyrose a slight glare. "Otherwise you might lose them."

"Oh, you have surprisingly amusing imagination, my wilting flower," Rustyrose said with a slight laugh.

"Okay listen here you little shit," Kiora started, irritated that Rustyrose dared to take such a tone with her. "I'm far from a wilting flower, and I'm certainly not YOUR wilting flower, you understand me?"

"Ah, you also have an attitude of a feisty feline; quite adorable, if you do ask me,". Rustyrose continued with a slight smirk.

"Okay listen here you lil shit..." Kiora started before gripping Rustyrose's head and slamming his face into a wall. "Cut the nicknames out, or I won't hesitate to slam your face through this wall almost as bad as I do with Tobias..."

"/ALMOST/ as bad?!" Tobias shouted from the side.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, TOBIAS!" Maggie and Kiora yelled in unison.

Rustyrose, who wasn't too fazed by the fact his face was against the wall, complied, merely giving a simple shrug. "My my...if that pleases you, then I will refrain from doing so..."

"You better,". Kiora said as she released Rustyrose's head, dusting her hands off after.

"I like her," Bluenote said with a slight smirk. "She can definitely fly..."

"Looks like Kiora is making friends with that Rustychap," Maggie said with a slight giggle. She then turned, only to see Kain standing right behind her, causing her to jump back, obviously startled. "Bloody hell!?"

"Who's Maggie-chan's friend?" The young Shadow Manipulation mage of Tartaros, Sora, asked.

"I don't know who this namby pamby tosser is, Sora," Maggie replied to Sora, eying Kain oddly. Kain said something, but his voice was too low and he spoke too fast for anyone to catch it.

"…What did he say?" Sora asked while tilting her head.

"I don't know…" Maggie replied.

"I can see everyone is getting acquainted," Daityas said as he walked towards the group with Zancrow, and the revived Azuma by his side.

"We are missing Zolty, Ultear, and Meredy," Bluenote said to Daityas.

"Well, there's nothing that can be done about those three," Daityas replied. "Now if I heard correctly, there was another body that needed to be revived?"

"Ah, yes," Rustyrose nodded. "The body of our master, Master Hades."

"Hades? Now this is getting interesting..." Ruika said with a slight grin.

"So that was the dead body I kept smelling while near your ship..." Mithril said somewhat quietly.

"Master Hades? He was killed?" Azuma asked while crossing his arms.

"Ah, Azuma, Zancrow! It's been so long!" Rustyrose said with a smile. "Tell me, how does it feel to be alive again?"

"I just want my flames to consume the lives of many once again, and I can't wait to return to the surface to do so..." Zancrow said as a grin crept its way across his features.

"I will be able to fight strong opponents once again soon, I cannot wait," Azuma said with a slight chuckle. "A rematch with Scarlet is a must; she won't win a second time if we face off again."

"Wait a minute," Zancrow said while tilting his head to the side. "Master Hades was killed?"

"Indeed," Bluenote said with a nod.

"By the same one who happened to kill you,". Rustyrose replied as he fixed his glasses. "Though, that death was intentional."

"What happened to /him/", Zancrow asked as his black flames started to surround him, the flames burning hotter as Zancrow's temper rose. "I don't care about the One Magic anymore, I want Zeref to burn to the ground by MY hands!"

"W-Well...about that..." Kain started, his nervousness causing his speech to speed up. "We don't really know what happened to him after he left the airship..."

"Kain, slow the hell down and try again..." Zancrow said in an irritated tone.

"Good to see how these chaps get along with one another..." Maggie said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

.

.

Magnus stood on the roof of Cosmic Star, his eyes closed as he listened to the sound of the wind. "I can feel it..." Magnus said with a slight frown. "The winds of change are coming...someone is going to die..."


	13. Chapter 13: Grimore Heart's Return

None of the legal guilds were aware of the activity of Silent Sanctum or Tartaros in the slightest; the two dark guilds were unaware if each other's activity as well, or at least it seemed that way. It had been several days since the beginning of the arrival of Grimore Heart, but they hadn't made their move yet. But for now, let's focus on White Eclipse once more shall we? "Alright, old man, you ready?" Reve asked as he stood a few yards away from Master Calium, a golden light surrounding his hands as he requiped two pistols, one in each hand.

"It's your challenge, Reve," Calium replied with a nod; and that was all Reve needed to hear. The cocky gunslinger began by taking aim at the master, and let loose a few rounds just to test the waters, seeing how the old man would react at first. Calium's reaction was simple; he simply waved one finger vertically, creating a wall of darkness to shield him from the attack. Reve dashed off to the side after Calium's reaction, holding his arms forward as he continued to click the trigger to his pistols, sending magical bullets racing towards Calium. "Impressive, Reve," Calium said as he formed a wall of light to protect himself from the bullets. "You have certainly gotten stronger…" Calium then pointed his finger down, causing a pillar of light to form under Reve, slamming into his stomach and forcing him into the air.

"That…one…won't get me this time…!" Reve said, as he bit his tongue to keep from crying out in pain. This was the attack that OHKO'ed Reve the last time, but that was months ago, and this was now. Reve spread his arms out, causing a multitude of guns to appear around Calium. "I got you now, old man! Devil's Wheel!"

Calium noticed the wheels before they could even begin fire. A smile appeared on Calium's face as he dropped his staff and clapped his hands together. "You've come a long way, Reve! But I'm afraid it's time for me to end this!" Eclipse Circle!" Multiple towers of darkness and light appeared around Calium, and then spun around, spreading out in a circle, destroying the guns Reve created, and slammed into Reve, sending him tumbling across the snow in defeat. "There is always room for improvement," Calium said before nodding and walking back inside.

"Ugh…" Reve groaned before picking himself up slowly. "Damn, I was close too…Zalen, what was my time…?" Reve looked around for Zalen, seeing no sign of the building mage. "Zalen?"

At the back of White Eclipse on the balcony Zalen, Waiston, Jaxon, and Cygnus were watching what they believed to be the greatest thing of all time; Aira and Nami doing yoga, and in yoga pants, no less. A trail of blood slowly flowing down from their noses as the males looked on. "I knew there was a reason I loved this place," Cygnus said as he stared on.

"I feel like I was supposed to be doing something…" Zalen said as he stared down at the two girls with fogged glasses, who were both unaware they had an audience.

"I'm starting to like yoga more and more now…" Waiston said in an absent minded voice. Sidney appeared in a puff of smoke behind the four, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Idiots…" Sidney sighed before grabbing hold of all four mages, and vanished in a puff of smoke, appearing on a clearing in the mountain with the four of them. "Instead of staring at the females, how about you four actually do something productive, and train?"

"S-Sidney!?" Zalen's eyes widened slightly, but before he could actually turn to see the ghost mage, he vanished, leaving those four on the mountain clearing.

"Welp, might as well!" Waiston said as rigid ice formed around his fist. "Free for all!?"

"Count me in!" Jaxon said with a grin as he got into a defensive position.

"Let's see how you do against gravity…" Cygnus said with a smirk as he too entered a defensive position.

"You guys know how I am about these kinda things…have fun…" Zalen said as he took a few steps back.

Back inside the guild, Luke was having perhaps the most embarrassing moment of his life. He was serving Heather a toxic cherry pie...in a maid's outfit...in the middle of the main room. His pride was practically shattered at this, but he did so anyway, handing Heather the cherry pie, thankful that most of everyone was either away, still in their rooms, or outside. "Here's your pie..." Luke said with a defeated tone.

Heather placed a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter, taking the pie with the other hand and placing it on the couch. The vanilla blonde then let out a tiny snicker as she looked over at Luke. "You know...that dress really compliments your legs..." And with her own comment, she let out a laugh, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Oh just take your stinkin' pie already!" Luke said while looking around the room, glad that no one had come in.

In Takeru's tower, he and Selene were currently sparring. Selene wasn't one to spar often, if at all, but Takeru was helping Selene to master her Diamond Shadow mode, which she hasn't used since the Fiore's End incident. Selene learned that she was able to use a few of Takeru's abilities, such as the use of creating Shadow Katanas. After about thirty minutes of practice, Selene and Takeru took a break. "You're learning fast," Takeru said with nod. "Have you tried the Shadow Travel yet?"

Selene shook her head slowly. "I can't; it's too difficult..." Selene replied with a slightly upset tone.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually," Takeru said with a stern nod. "Just remember, you can only travel to places you've been before."

"I suppose that makes sense..." Selene replied with a short nod. "I hope I can get the hang of it soon..."

"You will, trust me," Takeru said with yet another nod. "Now, let's keep working on your combat."

.

.

Wendy and Cynthia stood across from each other, a slight smile on their faces. "Our first fight!" Cynthia said with a bit of an excited voice. Most of Fairy Tail was around to watch the match between the two best friends. "I'm all fired up! What about you?"

"I'm ready to go!" Wendy said with a nod.

"Good luck you two!" Lucy said with a cheerful wave.

"Who's gonna go first?" Wendy asked.

"I will!" Cynthia nodded, allowing her red flames to surround her fist as she sprinted forward towards Wendy. Cynthia started the fight by pulling her fist back, aiming the first strikes to Wendy's chest. Wendy swayed her body from left to right carefully, watching Cynthia's every movement. Wendy ducked a punch, and then swung her wind infused leg upwards, landing a hit on Cynthia's chin, causing Cynthia to stumble back. "Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

"Oof!" Cynthia mumbled as she stumbled back, yet the smile was on her face. "Not bad! But now it's my turn!" Cynthia sprinted forward once again, quickly closing the gap between her and Wendy and swung a red fire infused let at Wendy's side, not giving the girl any time to evade it as she stumbled over to the side.

"Those two are really going at it," Gray said with an amused smile.

"Well, you know their relationship," Lucy said with a smile.

"Cynthia's also gotten a lot better at controlling her emotions," Mirajane said with a sweet smile.

"I've noticed," Laxus said with a nod. "But, even though she's gotten better at doing so, I'm not 100% sure she will be able to control them if she reached a state and condition like she did several months ago..."

"Well, we'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen!" Lucy said with a quick nod with her usual cheerful smile etched across her features.

"I'm just glad they're able to do this without too much trouble," Makarov said with a stern nod.

"Yes, I agree. It's always nice to see such close friends fight in such a fashion," Mavis said with a gentle smile.

"F-First Master?!" Makarov jumped from surprise of the ghost of Mavis. "W-What are you doing here?!"

"I came to see if Fairy Tail was okay," Mavis replied, her expression slowly getting serious.

"Why would you feel the need to do that?" Erza asked, noticing the change in Mavis' expression, causing her expression to change.

"Someone has plans of reviving Grimore Heart…" Mavis said, loud and clear too, causing both Wendy and Cynthia to stop just as they were about to exchange punches.

"G-Grimore Heart!?" Makarov's jaw dropped. "What!? Who!? Why!?"

"I thought we got rid of them seven years ago!?" Natsu said as a scowl formed on his face.

"I thought this too…" Mavis said. "But, a few days ago, someone intruded on the island, and took the bodies of the two mages who died. I don't know what guild that man belonged to though…I'm sorry…!"

"I uh…I hate to be the one out of the loop here…" Cynthia started as she scratched the back of her head, coughing awkwardly. "But…uh…what's Grimore Heart…?"

A frown appeared on Mirajane's lips as she recalled the malicious guild, and how they intruded on Tenoru Island. "Grimore Heart was the strongest dark guild in Fiore seven years ago…"

"Tenoru…Island…?" Cynthia blinked a few times, only just slightly familiar with the name. "It sounds familiar…"

"It's where Fairy Tail held its last S class exams," Lucy replied.

"The exams were interrupted by Grimore Heart, and we ended up doing battle with their seven strongest members, and their master," Gray continued.

"So, it's a bad thing they've returned, I gather…?" Cynthia asked.

"They might want revenge on us," Erza replied.

"Tell them to bring it on!" Natsu said as he pounded his fist into an open palm, a smirk appearing on his face. "We beat them once, and we can do it again!"

"Calm down, Natsu," Makarov said while sitting cross legged on the ground, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do. "We don't know anything about the situation just yet, but if this is true, I suggest we warn the other guilds about this…we aren't on an island anymore, and Griome Heart could cause problems if everyone is as unprepared as we were seven years ago…"

"So we wait?" Erza asked.

Makarov nodded slowly, his eyes still closed as he continued to think the possible oncoming situation over. He didn't want to put his children in danger, but he knew they would be able to handle it if this were true because they proved they were able to seven years ago. "Yes…until it is time to take action, we will wait and see what happens…"

.

.

"You've been at this for many hours, Daityas," Rustyrose said as he, the other members of Grimore Heart, and the rest of Tartaros watched as Daityas attempted to revive Hades, only to fail.

"You don't think I've noticed!?" Daityas asked in an irritated tone. "My revival should be working; I don't understand why it isn't…"

"Perhaps Hell doesn't want to release his soul?" Tobias suggested.

"Shut up, Tobias," Kiora said. "Hell probably doesn't want to let go of his soul, or something. I don't know much about how these things work."

"Hm…You could be right, Kiora…" Daityas said while tapping his chin in thought. Tobias made the "REALLY!?" Expression at Kiora, having just said the exact same thing seconds before.

"Shut up, Tobias!" Maggie shouted in response to Tobias' look. Tobias opened his mouth to say something, but realized it was pointless, and decided to remain silent.

"It's okay, Tobias," Kain said with a nod. "Sometimes it's hard being a figure the ladies can't resist."

"The FUCK did you just say?" Maggie and Kiora said in unison, cutting their eyes at Kain.

"O-Oh my! Don't tell me you both want to be with me?!" Kain's eyes lit up as he started to fantasize Maggie and Kiora in bathing suits hugging up against him. "I had no idea I would be this popular!"

"Bloody hell is this poof going on about?!" Maggie shouted.

"I think he's confused..." Ruika said while stifling her laughter at Maggie and Kiora's situation m.

"But alas," Kain said with a sigh. "A relationship can only be one on one! So, tell me, which one of you will it be! Who wants to be with me?!"

Maggie and Kiora exchanged glances for a moment with dull expressions on their faces, though on the inside they were both livid because Kain actually had the nerve to say such things to them and ask such things of them. Kiora and Maggie both pulled their arms back, balling their hands into tight fist, then swung it at Kain's face in unison, sending the bulky male back across the room and into the wall. "NO ONE!" The two females screamed in unison.

"I KNEW YOU WOULD SAY THAT!" Kain said as a river of tears started to flow down his eyes. "I'M NOT AWKWARD AT ALL!"

"...Sora thinks Kain is weird..." Sora said innocently while staring at Kain.

"Kain often thinks he is the embodiment of women's fantasies, so I do apologize for his behavior towards you two woman of such beauty and high regard," Rustyrose said with a slight bow, once again using two of his fingers to push his glasses up. "I can assure you such an event shan't transpire as long as he is within the range of my vision."

"You better," Maggie said with a scoff.

"Now, if I may interject about Master Hades' revival..." Rustyrose continued.

"What about it? The fact he's not alive yet or that my patience is running thin?" Daityas asked while raising a brow.

"Well, it's just an idea strung together by the fabric of events I witnessed several years ago, but I do believe the reason he has yet to awaken from his slumber is because he was killed by Zeref's magic; intentionally, at that," Rustyrose said with a nod. "Perhaps the revival process has worked, but it will take its time in awakening him."

"That's not a bad theory," Daityas said while nodding slightly, acknowledging Rustyrose's theory. "I've heard Death Magic negates several kinds of magics, but my revivals always work. So I'll accept that."

"When the hell do we get to out and BE Grimore Heart again!?" Zancrow asked, growing impatient of the few days he's spent alive not destroying anything.

"I was hoping we could make our grand reentry to this glorified sphere we stand on once our magnificent master walked the land of the living with us once again," Rustyrose said as he adjusted his glasses once more, but this time they shined ominously afterwards as a slow smirk crossed his face. He too was tired of waiting, and preferred to show Fiore the spectacular show he had planned. "But it appears that won't be possible for the time being..."

"I can sense many strong opponents on the surface…" Azuma said quietly, the thought of strong opponents exciting him. "I haven't had a good fight in seven years…"

"I haven't killed anyone in seven years and it's annoying me! The Flames of a God are meant to kill!" Zancrow said as his black flames surrounded his hands, flaring intensely to show his agitation and his need for destruction. "I NEED TO KILL!"

"I suppose it will do us no good to remain here…" Bluenote said.

"I am going to to travel back to Hell to check up on a few things…" Daityas said, starting to walk off. "Until I return, and even after, Grimore Heart, enjoy to your heart's content. Show Fiore what they were missing for seven long years."

"You don't have to tell me twice! HAHAHAH!" Zancrow gave an insane grin as the black flames intensified over his body from his excitement as his psychotic laugh echoed throughout the castle that was known as Tartaros. "Grimore Heart has finally returned!"


	14. Chapter 14: Destruction Begins

A village erupted in black flames that towered high into the sky. In the center, Zancrow let out a psychotic laughter that rang through the sound of the burning flames, mentally scarring those who managed to survive the surprise assault. "HAHAHAHA! THIS IS GREAT! I MISSED THIS!"

"HEY, YOU! STOP!" A group of Councilmen ran towards Zancrow, all holding staffs with a verity of magics, excluding fire, of course.

"Ah, the Council! It's been too long, hasn't it!" Zancrow grinned, holding one arm out as black flames surrounded it; within seconds, a large, black scythe formed in Zancrow's hands, causing the Councilmen to take a few steps back at the deadly weapon. "Yes, that's right! Fear the being before you! The Flame God Slayer! I'll enjoy burning you to ashes!" And with that, Zancrow gripped his scythe with both hands, and swung it vertically at the Councilmen, knocking away and severely burning nearly the entire troop. Zancrow grinned at the screams of the Councilmen as they flew back; but he grinned even more at the trail of destruction he left behind him. "AHAHAHA!"

"That's enough!" Second Captain Oden shouted, a dark glare painted over his expression as he looked towards Zancrow. "This has gone on long enough, Zancrow of Grimore Heart! Turn yourself in quietly, otherwise I'm going to have to use force, and considering the type of mage you are, you won't like that."

"Oh, is that so?" Zancrow said with a smirk, allowing his scythe to vanish. "You obviously know nothing about the Flames of a god!" Zancrow then swiped his hand, releasing black flames that traveled forward, covering Odin like a cloud.

"You clearly don't know anything about oxygen manipulation…" Odin said with a smirk, starting to inhale the oxygen around him. However, the flames around him did not extinguish; instead, they remained burning, causing Odin to let out a cough. "What!?"

"Like I told you!" Zancrow said with a large, toothy smirk. "The Flames of a God are not to be underestimated!" Zancrow let out a quick laugh before he clapped his hands down, unleashing mouth shaped attack of black flames at the covered Odin, striking him directly. When Odin fell, his body was covered in severe burn marks. "HIYAHAHAHA!" Zancrow laughed once more, the same, psychotic laughed that had its talent for scarring anyone who managed to survive the Flame God Slayer's wrath.

.

.

"Flame God Slayer?" Diana looked on at Zancrow's destruction with obvious interest. "I thought he died seven years ago…"

"It appears he's been brought back to life…" Blake said. "But by whom, is the question…"

"It appears we've found another player to add to the game…he's quite powerful…I'd like to see how he'll fair against the Sky God Slayer…" Diana said while tapping her foot.

"In due time, dear," Blake said with a smirk. "Until then, let's see how this current game plays out…"

.

.

From the roof of Silent Sanctum, Ultear, Jikan, and Aloysius watched as the tower of black flames rose into the sky. "I know those flames…" Ultear said with a slight smirk.

"Oh, do you know…?" Jikan looked over at Ultear whilst raising a brow, awaiting her response.

"Of course," Ultear responded. "Zancrow, the Flame God Slayer of Grimore Heart."

"A former companion of yours, then?" Aloysius asked.

"One might say that, yes," Ultear replied with a nod. "I'm surprised he's alive…he was killed seven years ago by Zeref himself. That's what Meredy told me, anyways."

"It appears Grimore Heart has returned…" Jikan said.

"What does this mean for us?" Aloysius asked.

"I suspect a different dark guild has something to do with this," Jikan replied. "I suppose the only thing we can do now is just wait and see how this turns out. Grimore Heart; terrorizing Fiore. I wonder if they'll be able to shake off the seven year rust…"

.

.

Though bandaged, Jellal and Meredy were watching from afar as the tower of flames appeared, causing Meredy to gasp. "T-Those flames…!"

"I've never seen flames like those before…" Jellal said as he watched the flames intently.

"Z-Zancrow…! He's alive…!" Meredy said in a low tone.

.

.

Lisanna bursts through the doors of Fairy Tail, waving a newspaper around in her hand. "I-It's true…! It's all true…!"

"What's true, Lisanna?" Mirajane asked with a worried look.

"First Master was right…! Grimore Heart has returned…!" Lisanna said, causing everyone to gasp audibly from the news.

"How do you know?!" Lucy asked, hoping that Lisanna merely read or saw something incorrectly.

"Here!" Lisanna opened up the newspaper in her hands, showing the entire guild the article of Zancrow burning an entire village with relative ease.

"Zancrow…" Natsu's voice had a low growl to it, remembering the Flame God Slayer with no trouble.

"It says here that he even took out a member of the Council!" Lisanna continued!"

"That is not Manly!" Elfman shouted. "A Man would do something about this…!"

"Are we going to face off against Grimore Heart again, Master…?" Mirajane asked Makarov, who was sitting cross legged on the bar, his arms folded and his eyes closed as he thought about the situation.

"Come on, Gramps!" Natsu said while pounding his fist into a table. "We're a lot stronger than we were seven years ago! We can take them!"

"Plus, we have Laxus here this time around," Freed said, gesturing over to the mighty lightning dragon slayer.

"And me!" Cynthia said, clearly showing confidence in her abilities.

"You brats are serious about this, huh?" Makarov asked, his eyes still closed, but he could feel the determination coming from his children to take down Grimore Heart once again. Makarov opened his eyes slowly, and then gave a nod. "Alright, we will face Grimore Heart once more. We cannot risk them bringing anymore harm to the people of Fiore."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Natsu jumped into the air with a grin.

"Gihehe…sounds like things are going to get interesting…" Gajeel said with a smirk.

"How are we going to decide who goes where though…?" Wendy asked. "They're all around Fiore…"

"Leave that to me," Cana said with a smirk, drawing her famous deck of cards from her pocket. She then walked over to the map of Fiore, "Everyone gather around," Cana demanded, and everyone did. "The best thing to do is to go in groups, though I don't think everyone will get picked, so bear with me here," Cana nodded, allowing her magic to do that talking as she hurled several cards at the map of Fiore, all landing face down on multiple locations of the map. "Let's see who's first…" Cana walked over to the two cards that were on the mountain range. "Hm…Cynthia, Wendy, you get the mountain range in the southwest…"

"Wendy and I? Awesome…!" Cynthia nodded, looking over towards Wendy. "Let's do our best!"

"Right!" Wendy gave a determined nod.

"Next…" Cana pulled off another card that was in the dead center of the Wass Forest. "Juvia, Gray, you get the forest."

"OH THIS IS WONDEFUL! JUVIA HAS BEEN PAIRED UP WITH GRAY-SAMA HER LIFE IS COMPLETE!" Juvia's eyes instantly filled with hearts.

"I'm starting to think that may have been a bad call…" Gray said quietly to himself.

Cana then took the two cards facing the northern mountains; not quite near White Eclipse, however. "Bickslow, Freed, and Evergreen, you two have the mountains, though I'm not entirely sure that's such a good one…"

"Ah, The Rajinshu will handle whoever lies there with no trouble," Freed said with a nod.

"Hehaha, my babies will be sure to do their fair share of work!" Bickslow said with a grin.

"We won't let you down, Laxus!" Evergreen said with a stern nod.

"Excellent. I expect nothing less of victory from you three, understand?" Laxus asked.

"Yes, Laxus! The Rajinshu nodded.

"And next…" Cana pulled off the next two cards that were in the middle of a city. "Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel, Happy, and Patherlily, you get the city

"The Magic Council, aye?" Natsu grinned. "I'm all fired up."

"Is that everyone?" Romeo asked.

"Even if I was picked or not, I wouldn't go," Laxus said. "In case any of those Grimore Heart idiots decide to come here, I'll give them a reason to stay away."

"I agree," Erza said. "I have faith you all will be able to handle things on your part, and if need be, I will come in an assist."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Cana handed the groups a distress card. "If you get into trouble, use this!"

.

.

"Alright, listen up!" Reve said as he walked back and forth, looking towards the White Eclispe members present. "It appears that Grimore Heart has made their return…"

"You mean that guild that took on Fairy Tail seven years ago?" Luke asked.

"That's right, Cloud," Reve said with a nod. "And, it seems as though they've decided it was okay to go and cause havoc separately."

"So…does that make our job easier, or harder?" Waiston asked while crossing his arms.

"Easier," Reve said with a smirk. "We'll pick 'em off, one by one, no problem."

"Sounds like something you'd come up with," Said Jack Royal, the drunk of White Eclipse, and one of its original members.

"Going alone would be crazy though…" Selene said while crossing her arms. "I've heard how powerful they are…"

"Well, it's not the complete 7 Kin of Purgatory," Reve said. "More like…four…plus that one they call their ace; Bluenote Stinger. You can leave him to me."

"Are you sure about that, Nii-san?" Skye asked.

"I'm positive. I'll even have Zalen as backup, right?" Reve looked over towards Zalen, who gave a determined nod. "As for who's going, we'll only need a limited about of people, just in case they decide to get smart and attack here."

"So, who's going?" Tayakata asked.

"Easy," Reve replied. Me, Zalen, Luke, Heather, Aira, Selena, Takeru, Skye, Cygnus, Kairi, and Waiston; rounds off so you can all choose your own partners. Well, aside from Cygnus.

"Gee, thanks," Cygnus said while rolling his eyes.

Heather turned to Kairi, a smirk appearing on her face. But before she could ask the angelic mage to partner up, Skye tackled Kairi to the ground. "Nee-chan!" Skye said in a happy tone. "Let's be partners!"

"GAH!" Kairi fell back into the snow as Skye tackled her. When she looked up, she realized that she couldn't really say no to Skye, so she just gave a nod. "Sure."

"SELEEEENNNEE!" Aira immediately grabbed Selene's hand, dragging her down the mountain.

"AIRA?!" Selene, who was planning on asking Takeru to partner up, was caught off guard by Aira's sudden decision to drag Selene along, but she had no say in the matter as the excited wind mage dragged her down the mountain.

"Yo, Tak!" Waiston said while holding a hand up high. "You wanna go?"

"Heh…sure…" Takeru gave a slight smirk as he and Waiston traveled down the mountain.

"Heh…Grimore Heart…should be fun…" Cygnus said as he entered a confident sprint down the mountainside just as Zalen and Reve left.

"Welp, guess that leave you and me," Luke said to Heather as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, yeah," Heather said as she started to lead the way down the mountain trail. "Don't fall behind now, Copy kitty."

Luke blinked a few times at the nickname; it was the first time he'd heard such a thing, actually. "Copy…Kitty…?" He then shook it off as he followed Heather. "That's a new one…"

.

.

"Hold him down!" Lahar shouted to Correl as Kain used powerful open palm strikes to down multiple Council Guards. "Quickly, he's overpowering them!"

"On it!" Correll shouted as a magic circle appeared underneath Kain's feet, weighing the heavy male down to the ground. With a smirk, Correll pulled out the magic sealing cuffs. "Alright, now then..."

"Self-strengthen; mist!" With his Mr. Cursey in his possession, Kain's body turned into a mist, allowing him to escape the gravity's grasp and float into the air; he then returned to normal with a smug grin on his face.

"Bastard...!" Correll growled. Magic circles appeared on Correll's fist as they doubled in size. "I'll take him down!"

"Setting up the runes as we speak!" Lahar said as he began to write runes to trap Kain on the ground.

"Come at me, fatty!" Correll said as he swung a fist at Kain; but to Correll's surprise, Kain was much faster and limber than he expected, which threw him for a loop when Kain landed powerful open palm strikes to Correll's face, causing the blonde haired captain to stumble back. "What the hell?!"

"My self-strengthen has already increased all my power tenfold!" Kain said with a smug grin as he leapt into the air.

"Lahar, the runes!" Correll shouted as he used his gravity to weight Kain down, a smoke cloud appearing from the male's collision into the ground.

"I got it!" A rune barrier then appeared around the smoke cloud, sealing of all magic use. "Got him." Lahar said with a relived sigh. When the smoke cleared, Lahar's eyes widened; the one trapped in the runes was Correll, not Kain. "W-WHAT?!"

"Haha! I've learned from my last mistakes!" Kain grinned as he held up his Mr. Cursey, showing a blonde strand of hair embedded within the top of its head, along with a strand of Kain's hair. "I haven't missed a beat, as I managed to steal one of his hairs, thus using it to change places!"

"You took my hair?!" Correll shouted in surprise.

"Hold on, I'll get you out!" Lahar quickly dispersed the runes, allowing Correll freedom.

"Here's a taste of my move!" Kain took his hair off the doll, then used its power to turn Correll into pure steel. "I learned this from my first loss!" Kain then waved his doll around, sending Correll hurtling towards Lahar uncontrollably.

"C-Correll?!" Lahar's eyes widened at this, and the steel Correll slammed into him, knocking the two out once contact was made.

"Easy!" Kain grinned sadistically before picking the two unconscious captains up, and roughly slammed their heads together, giving them serious head injuries; the Grimoire Heart Member then left to do his own thing once again.

.

.

"Hold him down!" Doranbolt shouted as the Council members rushed towards Bluenote.

"None of you can fly..." Bluenote sounded highly disappointed as the Council guards rushed towards him. Bluenote extended his arms as a white aura surrounded his body. "Fall," He uttered these words, and the gravity in the area increased, causing the Council guards, and even Doranbolt himself to fall to the ground, unable to move. Matters were made worse as the ground began to crack from the immense force of gravity, forcing the mages down into the ground even further, unable to do anything. "You are fast, Council man..." Bluenote said in reference to Doranbolt. "But you can't fly...nor can you outrun gravity..."

"D-Dammit...!" Doranbolt felt his bones beginning to crack as the gravity around him and the other Council members increased. Doranbolt was only a me to stay conscious long enough to see Bluenote simply walking off, and then he passed out after.

.

.

Head Captain Aloy and Gran Doma merely watched from the Magic Council HQ as the other captains suffered defeat from the Grimoire Heart members. "We had to do something...!" Doma said in shock as all the head captains he set fell.

"What is there we can do?" Aloy asked while crossing his arms. Odin is down, Correll is down, Lahar and Doranbolt are down. I won't be able to round those villains all up on my own; especially that Bluenote..."

"Dammit..." Doma sighed heavily as he desperately thought of a way to fight Grimoire Heart with such low numbers.

While Doma thought, Aloy left the room, a smirk on his face as he entered his office, takin a seat on his leather chair. He pulled out a lacrima which showed a visual of Jikan, Ultear, and...Aloysius. "Who's behind this?" Aloy asked.

"I believe Tartaros was the one who revived the guild," Jikan replied with a faint smirk.

"We were responsible for the revival of Ultear," Aloysius said with a grin.

"Who is this?" Ultear asked.

"Oh, that's simple..." Aloysius replied. "This is the Head Captain of the Magic Council Guard, Aloy; in other words...my thought projection."

"Thought projection...so he's just like Siegrain..." Ultear said in a not too surprised voice.

"Yes," Aloy nodded. "I'm afraid I must go now, but I will contact you later." Aloy nodded and cut the connection, a large smirk on his face. "And Gran Doma is too stupid to realize..."


	15. Chapter 15

Erza paced back and forth between the guild, feeling uneasy for some particular reason. A reason she wasn't sure of. "What's wrong, Erza" Makarov asked, looking up towards the uneasy Erza.

"I'm not sure, Master," Erza replied while taking a seat to calm herself.

"It's the fact they're back, isn't it?" Mirajane asked while frowning slightly.

Erza gave a small nod in response to Mirajane. "Yes…that's most likely it…"

"Have some faith in them!" Lisanna said in a cheerful tone. "We beat them once, and we've gotten nothing but stronger since then, so there's no doubt they'll be able to win!"

"I agree with Lisanna," Laxus said while crossing his arms. "And besides, if something happens, we'll back them up."

"Plus the other guilds are assisting in the fight as well," Macao said while nodded. "And I'm almost positive the Council is playing their part as well."

"Let's just see what happens, and then act accordingly to it," Makarov nodded slowly, yet sternly.

.

.

Waiston and Takeru ended up in the ruins of a destroyed, burnt down city. Waiston was taken aback by such destruction. "This must've been Zancrow…" Waiston said quietly as he looked around.

"The Flame God Slayer, right?" Takeru asked, just for confirmation.

"Yeah, he's one of the 7 Kin of Purgatory, or so I've heard," Waiston replied. "We must've just missed him…this destruction looks pretty fresh…"

"If we hurry we might catch him," Takeru replied. "There's no way he would've gotten too far…"

"Good idea, Tak; let's go!" Waiston nodded and began sprinting to the outskirts of the town, Takeru following alongside him.

"Egg Buster!" A chicken-like voice said from above, causing eggs to rain down from above onto Waiston and Takeru.

"What the?!" Takeru's eyes widened slightly from the surprise attack, but he and Waiston managed to roll to the side, avoiding the eggs as they exploded, leaving some yolk after.

"Eggs?!" Waiston's eyes widened slightly at the result; he turned his head over to the direction where the attack came from, noticing a humanoid chicken walking towards the two. "Who the heck!?"

"Kyaha, you shouldn't be focused on me-peron!" Kawazu said with a smirk while crossing his arms.

"There's another!" Takeru said immediately after Kawazu spoke. Right after, a piercing beam scraped Takeru's shoulder, sending a burning sensation through the Shadow Dragon Slayer's body for a split second before he shook it off, then turned around, back to back with Waiston as he looked at Kawazu's partner, Yomazu.

"Who are these guys!?" Waiston asked as ridge ice formed around his fists.

"Members of the strongest dark guild in all of Fiore-Peron!" Kawazu said with a smirk as he and Yomazu circled around Waiston and Takeru. "Grimiore Heart-Peron!"

"Are these two part of the 7 Kin?" Takeru asked Waiston.

"I don't think so…" Waiston replied. "I've never heard of these guys before…"

"Tch, we are the strongest members of Grimiore Heart, just under the 7 Kin of Purgatory and Master Hades himself!" Yomazu replied as he held his sword out.

"We heard about Grimoire Heart's revival, so we decided to join in, and restore its lost glory-peron!" Kawazu added.

"Great, looks like we're going to be side tracked…" Takeru sighed slightly. "I wanted a challenge; not a chicken…"

"W-What did you just call me-peron!?" Kawazu took immediate offensive to this.

"And he's hard of hearing…" Takeru smirked slightly, allowing his Shadow Drive to activate. "Let's make quick work of them, Waiston."

"You got it! Time for you to see the power of White Eclipse!" Waiston grinned as he and Takeru jumped forward.

.

.

In the slight eastern part of Fiore, Aira and Selene walked into a rocky open field. The two looked around, but didn't see any sign of life. 'Why are we here again…?" Aira asked Selene while holding onto her arm quite unnecessarily.

"First off, let go of me…" Selene pulled her arm away from Aira while looking around, taking sniffs into the air, picking up a slight scent. "And second…I can smell someone…"

"What do the smell like?" Aira asked. "Cherries? Blueberries?"

"…Neither, actually…It's a kinda gross scent…" Selene pinched her nose, groaning slightly from the disgusting scent that invaded her nostrils. "Ugh…gross…!"

"Is my new cologne not working!?" Kain shouted sadly as he approached the two girls, oogling at the sight of them. "Oh my…two beautiful ladies!"

"…Who is this guy…?" Selene asked while raising a brow, keeping her nose pinched.

"I have no idea…" Aira replied while taking a step back.

"I am Kain Hikaru, one of the 7 Kin of Purgatory!" Kain said proudly, giving a slight nod after. "BUT!" Kain continued, obviously starting to get off track. "You can call me the man of your dreams!"

"EWWWW!" Aira waved her hands while shaking her head rapidly. "I can smell you from over here!"

"I don't recall dreaming about you…" Selene replied while furrowing her brows at Kain's attitude. "But, if I'm understanding the phrasing correctly, then it's certainly not you."

"I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!" Kain lowered his head in shame as tears started to flow down his eyes in a comical fashion, causing Aira and Selene to exchange looks for a few seconds. "Well, if you both refuse to be my girlfriend, then I'm going to have to destroy you!" Kain then pulled out Mr. Cursey from his pocket, only a single strand of his hair on the doll's head.

"…He plays with dolls…?" Aira tilted her head slowly.

"THIS ISN'T JUST A DOLL!" Kain said defensively. "This is Mr. Cursey, and I will use his power, along with my own, to defeat you two!"

"Looks like we're gonna get to take one down after all, Aira!" Selene smirked slightly as diamonds began to cover her arms.

"I'm with you, Selene!" Aira said with a nod.

.

.

"Someone was here…" Natsu said as he observed the bodies of the unconscious Counilmen and Doranbolt.

"Are they still alive…!?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, they're still breathing…I just don't think they'll be waking up for a while…" Natsu replied with a slight sigh, but he then pounded two of his fist together, a slight smirk appearing over lips. "But don't worry, we're gonna take Grimoire Heart down one more time! Right Happy?!"

"Aye, Sir!" Happy replied with a large grin.

"I didn't even get to participate last time," Gajeel said with a slightly upset tone. "I only got those two no names whose name's I don't even remember."

"With you up and running this time around, I'm sure things won't be difficult," Patherlily said with a slight smirk.

"Wait…" Natsu placed his hand out, halting the other two from moving as he sniffed the air, picking up a slightly familiar scent. "That scent…"

"I don't know who it is…" Gajeel mumbled underneath his breath.

"It's been seven years, Fairy Tail…" Bluenote said from behind the group, causing them all to turn around.

"That's…!" Lucy started, her eyes widened and her jaw dropping.

"Bluenote…" Natsu's body engulfed itself in flames as he stared Bluenote down; though he wasn't angered despite the beating Bluenote gave him several years ago. Natsu was smirking; he was fairly confident that he would be able to take down Grimoire Heart's Ace this time around. "It's been a while…"

"Seven years, as I said," Bluenote said, only recognizing Lucy and Natsu, and not Gajeel. "I see you have a new friend…"

"What do you mean new friend!?" Gajeel shouted.

Bluenote shook his head, completely ignoring Gajeel for the most part. "I wonder…after all this time…will you be able to fly?"

The flames around Natsu's body flared up at Bluenote's question, which caused the Salamander to turn his smirk into a large grin as she slid into an offensive stance, Lucy, Happy, Gajeel, and Patherlily following soon after. "Things won't be as easy as they were seven years ago…" Natsu started. "We've gotten a lot stronger since then; so the real question is…can you fly?"

.

.

Juvia and Gray entered the heart of the Wass Forest, yet there were no signs of any Grimoire Heart members. So, instead of focusing on the task at hand, Juvia decided to use the free time they had to make multiple moves on Gray, yet she either failed horribly or Gray just gave her the cold shoulder. After a few minutes of silent weeping, Juvia's ears perked up at a particular sound, causing her guard to rise once again. "Gray-sama…did you hear that…?"

Gray nodded slowly in response to Juvia's question, his eyes narrowing as he looked around at the surrounding trees. "Yeah, I heard it…I don't know what it was but…"

"You two seem strong…" A voice seeming to come from the air said.

"W-Who said that…?" Gray looked around for the source of the voice, yet he was unable to find anything.

Juvia let out a quick yelp as she pointed to the tree in front of them. "G-Gray-sama! Look!"

"What is it!?" Gray turned to face the tree, causing him to jump slightly as a face poked out of it. "W-What is THAT!?"

The face on the tree moved forward, and eventually a body stepped out; not just any body, mind you; Azuma's. He eyed Juvia and Gray carefully, unsure on what to think of them at the moment. "You two seem strong…are you as strong as Titania…?"

"Erza…?" Gray raised a brow slightly, but he then remembered Erza saying something in the past about her battle with one of the 7 Kin, so he slid into his Ice make pose, calmly placing on fist into his palm as he stared down Azuma, Juvia following along with Gray as she glared at Azuma. "You're one of them, aren't you?"

"If you are referring to the 7 Kin of Purgatory, then you would be correct…" Azuma clarified. "I am Azuma, and I hope you two are as strong as I think you are…"

.

.

Zancrow slowly walked away from a burning village, grinning his usual psychotic grin as he felt quite pleased with his art. With his signature laugh, he turned to make sure there were no more survivors, and he was correct, as far as he could tell. Though he wouldn't waste his time on stragglers, as he figured they would die away, considering the non-mages he killed were so weak. "The weak have no purpose in this world…I think I will make that my new purpose…eliminate all weaklings!" Zancrow's grin widened as he immediately approved of his plan for the genocide of all those who could not defeat him. "Yes, excellent idea!" Zancrow then turned around, deciding he would now in fact hunt down the stragglers who managed to survive his assault. "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this right!" Zancrow began to walk back to the village still burning from his god flames, but before he could take even two steps, a yellow blur passed by him, slugging him right in the jaw, causing him to stumble back from the surprise hit. "Who…?" Zancrow turned, spotting Flynn in a ready to run position. "Well, well…what've we here…another weak mage?"

"Weak mage? HAH!" Flynn stood up, smirking confidently to Zancrow. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm actually quite the strong, and fast one, my friend!"

Zancrow rolled his eyes at Flynn's confidence, though there was some information the flame god slayer wanted to draw out of the mage before him for later use. "Oh? Well in that case, what guild are you from?"

"Heh, Twilight Zone, and I can tell you that we're gonna take both you and your little guild down!" Flynn nodded, jogging in place as staying still for even the shortest periods of time wasn't his thing.

"Twilight Zone, hm?" Zancrow's lips adopted a sadistic grin as his black flames started to flare on his body. "Well, I'll be sure to LIGHT up your little guild once I'm done with you? How do you want your guild and all of its people prepared? Medium, or cooked well?"

"That's a cool joke; how do you like your beat downs? Slow and painful, or quick and painless!" Flynn smirked slightly. "What's that? Fast? Then I'm your guy!" Flynn went down into a running position yet again, and then dashed towards Zancrow.


	16. Chapter 16

"Do you think we should get involved?" Daryan asked his fellow guildmates, a group of five including him, while scratching the back of his head. "Grimoire Heart isn't exactly the best guild to let roam around free…"

Next to Daryan was a tan, curvaceous, big breasted (But is that really a surprise considering where this girl is?) female with long curly fiery red hair that reached down to her waist and red eyes. This female also wore three inch heels, a black mini skirt, and a frilly red shirt with a floral pattern. The female shook her head a few times, disagreeing with the idea immensely. "No! No no no!" The female said repeatedly.

"And why not, Alex?" Daryan asked while raising a brow.

"Because it's Grimoire Heart do you even knOW HOW DANGROUS THEY ARE?!" Alex flailed her arms around. This girl was Alex Hikari, one of Cosmic Star's S-class mages, though her attitude usually caused the other guildmembers to question her rank. "It's not safe!"

"To be fair…" Magnus started. "Fiore's not exactly safe either…And the only thing we'll be doing once we get involved is just sticking ourselves in danger faster than if we stayed here."

"Don't forget the Council…" Another male said. This male was the shortest out of the group of five wizards discussing. This male had gothic attire; black boots, black hair, black jacket, though he didn't have the makeup on, but he was certainly quiet.

"The Council has all fallen to nearly every member of Grimoire Heart, Yukuza," Magnus said. "Doranbolt to Bluenote Stinger, Correll and Lahar to Kain Hikaru, and Odin to Zancrow."

"This is exactly why I say we shouldn't get involved…!" Alex said once again, placing her hands on her hips as she shifted her weight onto one foot. "I don't want any of you getting hurt! Grimoire Heart is too powerful!"

"I heard the other guilds are taking part in battle…" Daryan said to Alex, crossing his arms.

"Other guilds?" Alex raised a brow, unfamiliar with most of the other guilds in Fiore.

"Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, and if I'm not mistaken, that guild named Twilight Zone…" Magnus said with a nod.

"…Isn't White Eclipse the strongest guild in Fiore or something?" Alex said in an innocent, yet clueless tone.

"Technically, that has yet to be decided," Magnus said with a slight shrug. "The mages are quite powerful, but the strongest guild in Fiore at the moment is in fact Fairy Tail. As for Twilight Zone, I know nothing of their members, but they are fairly new too…"

"I think we've gotten a little off topic…" Yakuza said with a slight sigh.

The tallest mage out of all the group spoke; this mage was female, curvaceous just like Alex, and her hair was short brown, and her eyes were a dark shade of brown. Though, she wore a robe which concealed most of her body. This was Gaia; the SS class earth mage of Cosmic Star. "We will wait."

"G-Gaia!" Alex was surprised by Gaia's decision. "S-See! Gaia agrees with me! You can't say anything now!"

"She said to wait…" Daryan sighed slightly. "I'm going out there once things start to get outta hand though, understand, Gaia?"

"Do as you wish, Daryan; just remember the consequences if you are defeated…" Gaia said in her normal tone; though her normal tone sounded threatening enough.

"Y-Yes Gaia…" Daryan said somewhat nervously now.

.

.

Waiston sprinted up the side of a partially collapsed building, back flipping off it just before the structure collapsed under his feet, puffing his cheeks out as he was now angled 45 degrees above Kawazu. "Ice Dragon's Roar!" Waiston opened his mouth, unleashing the hurricane of ice towards the chicken.

"Egg Wall!" Kawazu opened his mouth, firing a multitude of eggs in front of him. The eggs shattered, and a yolk wall appeared, taking the brunt of Waiston's attack, leaving the ice dragon slayer dumbfounded.

"W-What the!?" Waisotn landed on the ground, gritting his teeth slightly at Kawazu's defense. Waiston then raised his foot, and then stepped on the ground, creating a blue magic seal with the image of a dragon in the middle on the charred earth, sending ice spikes traveling towards the chicken to pierce his egg defense.

"You law abiders are weak-peron!" With a grin, Kawazu leapt high into the air, almost as if he took flight. He was well above Waiston now, and he closed his mouth, gathering eggs within his throat and opened his mouth, unleashing a rain of eggs down on Waiston. "Heavy Egg Rain!"

"Gah!" Waiston stomped on the ground once again, creating a glacier that popped up in front of him for defense; though the glacier only took so much before it shattered, and the eggs rained down on Waiston, forcing the ice dragon mage to slide across the ground, moderately damaged by the attack. "These guys are pretty good…" Waiston said quietly to himself before he smirked. "But nothing to White Eclipse!" Waiston formed a glacier under his feet, propelling him into the air at Kawazu's height, catching the chicken off guard. "I got you now!" Waiston reared his leg back as ridged, hard ice started to form around hit, and he then swung it at the off guard Kawazu.

"I won't let you!" Yomazu said as a kanji sign appeared in front of Waiston, successfully blocking the attack. Feeling good about the successful cover for his partner, Yomazu turned just in time to evade Takeru's Shadow Dragon's Slash, but Takeru quickly followed up with a roundhouse to Yomazu's side, catching the goat man off guard and he stumbled back.

"Too much talk," Takeru said as he formed a single Shadow Katana in his hand, smirking slightly. "I'll make this quick…"

"You are not the only one with such a blade…" Yomazu said as he pulled out the sword Gajeel broke seven years ago, looking as good as new, if not better. Yomazu and Takeru charged each other, locked in sword combat.

.

.

Selene and Aira tumbled across the rocky ground for a few seconds before hopping back up, both scratched and bruised from Kain's attacks, but they weren't going down just yet. "What is up with this guy…?" Selene asked while rolling her shoulder in attempt to get the stiffness out. "He's so big…but he's so fast too…"

"That's the power of Mr. Cursey, and my self-strengthen!" Kain said proudly.

"So that doll is the problem…" Aira said as she formed a magic circle under her body, increasing her stats.

"I'm not going to lose to this guy just because of some doll!" Selene sprinted towards Kain once again as she pulled her diamond encrusted arms back, swinging them at Kain's body. Kain, however, swiftly avoided each and every punch Selene threw towards him, catching the diamond dragon slayer off guard. Kain then slammed an open palm with enough power to easily break a tree at Selene's stomach, stopping her from moving for a second, then he slammed another palm at her face, sending her tumbling away.

"Selene!" Aira jumped forward, her increased speech catching Kain off guard for a few seconds as Aira landed a series of punches and kicks on Kain's face.

"Dammit, that hurts! Cut it out!" Kain slammed his palm at Kain's face, sending the blonde rolling across the ground.

"I'm getting real sick of this guy…" Selene groaned slightly as she held her arm. "Roar…" Selene reared her head back, her cheeks puffing out. "Of the Diamond Dragon!" Selene threw her head forward as a gray magic circle appeared in front of her, and she released a vortex of small diamonds that engulfed Kain's body. "I got him!" Selene smirked to herself however, Selene's smirk quickly turned into a look of horror as she saw the result of her attack. Kain wasn't the one who took the full force of the Diamond Dragon's Roar; it was Aira. "A-AIRA!" Aira's body was now covered in multiple cuts from the diamonds, blood trailing for every open wound; without a word, Aira's body fell limp onto the ground. "H-How!?"

"I switched places with her!" Kain said as he held up his prized doll once again, but this time a strand of Aira's hair was on the doll's head along with a strand of Kain's. Kain put Aira's hair into his pocket and grinned.

"Dammit…" Selene looked over to Aira, but before she could look back at Kain, Kain slammed a steel palm into her ribs. Selene's eyes widened as she felt the crack of her rips on impact, rolling on the ground next to Aira, wincing. "G-Gah…!"

Kain stood above the two girls as the wind started to blow, his cape flowing slight in the wind as he stared the two girls down, his hair shading over his eyes so only a red glow was seen from them. "If you two only agreed to by my girlfriend this wouldn't have had to happen…"

Selene wrapped an arm around Aira, seeing the bleakness of the situation. Diamond scales started to cover her arms, her eyes turned a blazing white, and shadows started to flow from her body. "I have to do this…" A black shadow appeared under Selene and Aira's body, engulfing them in an instant. Selene made use of Shadow Travel, leaving Kain standing there; dumbfounded.

.

.

In the northern mountains, just where Cana told the Rajinshu to go, those three mages laid on the ground, in defeat. Rustyrose managed to defeat the Rajinshu, with moderate damage to his person, as well. "Foolish wizards…" Rustyrose said as he walked off, leaving Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen lying unconscious in the snow. "You've been asleep for seven years…though your power is impressive together; it amounts to nothing when put to the test…"

.

.

Gray, who was now shirtless, and Juvia, found that Azuma was a stronger opponent than they originally thought. Both Gray and Juvia were towards the end of their ropes, while Azuma had a decent amount of damage dealt to him. Azuma crossed his arms, letting out a sigh of disappointment as he looked at the two wizards. "You two aren't nearly as strong as Titania…this disappoints me…"

"We're not done yet…!" Gray shouted, slamming his fist into his palm once more, placing all of his magical energy into once last attack. "Juvia, let's go!"

"Yes!" Juvia nodded, gathering an intense amount of water for her final attack. "Water Nebula!" A large cyclone of water then raced towards Azuma.

"Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" A light blue and blue magic circle formed and unleashed a barrage of large ice lances towards Azuma alongside the nebula Juvia created.

"If only you were stronger…" Azuma said quietly as he waved his hand to the side, causing large tree roots to appear from all angles and shield him from the attack; though the combine forces off the attack surprised him as it nearly broke through his defenses, but in the end, it failed, and Gray and Juvia fell over from damage and magic consumption; unconscious. Azuma shook his head slightly, and left the two where they were, progressing deeper into the Wass forest.

.

.

"Won't you be joining the fray, Ultear?" Jikan asked as he looked over at the time ark mage, who was relaxing leisurely on the couch in the main hall of Silent Sanctum.

"I see no need to," Ultear replied. "Those who are apart of the 7 kin can handle themselves, though if a few of them do go down, I might join, just to humor a few wizards…"

"Lazy ass…" Byron said under his breath while shaking his head.

"What was that?" Ultear asked, her time ark sphere appearing in her hand as she cut her eyes towards Byron.

"Nothing!" Byron replied with a quick nod.

.

.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Natsu and Gajeel simultaneously sent off their respective roars, the two roars merging in mid travel, increasing in speed and power as it raced towards Bluenote.

"Hm…" Bluenote wanted to test this incoming unison roar, to see if the group of three standing before him could fly. So the roar engulfed his body, and when it faded, the gravity mage was unscathed, and highly disappointed. "Seems you still can't fly…"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Gajeel's eyes narrowed slightly as he attempted to hide his disbelief at the failed attack. "Salamander, have you been slacking!?"

"What!? Me!?" Natsu cut his eyes to Gajeel, and the two immediately slammed their foreheads together. "You're the one who's been slacking! My roar carried most of that power!"

"You're joking! Your attack brought mine down!" Gajeel replied.

"Will you two knock it off for a second…!" Happy flailed his arms around.

Lucy shook her head, deciding to take action in hopes the arguing pair of dragon slayers would follow. "Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!" From the key, the horse cosplayer appeared, giving a salute to Lucy.

"How can I be of assistance, moshi-moshi?" Sagittarius asked.

"Attack him!" Lucy pointed, getting Natsu and Gajeel's attention.

"As you wish, moshi-moshi!" Sagittarius turned to Bluenote, grabbing three arrows from his quiver as he did so, and placed them all on the string of the bow, all within split second. He then released the arrows, all three hurtling towards Bluenote.

"Horses can't fly…" Bluenote said quietly before a large purple magic circle covered the area just above the mages. "Fall…" A blazing white aura appeared out Bluenote as the gravity increased tremendously, forcing the arrows, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Gajeel, Lily, an Sagittarius into the ground, causing the ground to cave in under them.

"G-Gah…this again!" Natsu groaned, attempting to move within the harsh gravity field, but he was unable to do so.

"I-I can't move…!" Gajeel shouted in frustration.

"Don't worry, I'll make this quick, then I'll move onto Clive…" Bluenote said as he increased the gravity on the mages. Before he could go anymore, a kick caught him off guard, and sent him stumbling back a few steps. "Who….?" Before Bluenote was yet another gravity mage. Kagura.

"H-Hey…isn't that…!" Lucy started as the gravity effect worn off.

"You…" Bluenote looked at Kagura with a look of interest, a slight smirk appearing over his face. "…Can you fly…?"

.

.

Zancrow's combat skills surprised Flynn; the fact Zancrow was keeping up with Flynn is what surprised the speed mage the most. Flynn continued to throw multiple high speed kicks at Zancrow's body, but Zancrow was able to block most of the kicks with one of his arms, though a few kicks slipped through his defense, causing him to let out the tiniest grunts of pain. Zancrow then decided to use both of his hands, now blocking each and every kick Flynn threw. "You're fast, but you're also pretty weak…" Zancrow said as he jumped into the air, forming his black flaming scythe in his arms, and he swung it at Flynn.

"Gah!" Flynn rolled out of the way, seeing the trail of destruction left from Zancrow's scythe. "What's with this guy!? I've hit him so many times and he's still standing…!?"

"Flame God's…" Zancrow's cheeks began to puff out. "Bellow!" Zancrow opened his mouth, unleashing torrent of black flames down towards Flynn.

"W-Whoa!" Using his speed, Flynn was able to avoid the incoming bellow. He let out a sigh of relief after, surprised at Zancrow's power. But the speed mage wasn't going to lose. Seeing Zancrow still in the air, Flynn jumped into the air using his speed, and axe kicked Zancrow down into the ground, creating a dust cloud from impact, and Flynn smirked as he landed. "Got'cha!" Before Flynn could respond with another overconfident comment, Zancrow unleashed a cloud of black flames towards Flynn, covering the speed mage. "N-No!"

"Weak and cocky, what a pathetic combination…I have no use for somewhat like you…" Zancrow sighed, merely dusting himself off. Flynn sped out of the flame cloud; his body heavily charred from the attack, but he refused to give up. Flynn took one step forward…but it was over because Zancrow met Flynn 99% of the way with a black flaming fist, slamming it into Flynn's jaw, the force strong enough to send him rolling across the ground for a while before stopping at the base of a mountain range. Zancrow merely walked over to Flynn and picked him up by his collar, pulling back his free hand as the black flames flared. "I'll make this quick, since you seem to be a fan of speed." Before Zancrow could finish Flynn off, a sneaker slammed into his cheek, forcing him to release Flynn and slide back across the gravel. "W-Who the…!?" Zancrow growled audibly.

"This is the one we get?" Cynthia landed after her surprise attack, looking over to Wendy for confirmation.

"Looks like it…" Wendy replied, a serious expression painted onto her features as she stared at Zancrow.

"Children…I've always hated children…" Zancrow shook off the impact as he adopted the same psychotic smile he's always had. "But, they are fun to play with…"


	17. Chapter 17:Wendy and Cynthia vs Zancrow

"So, this is the one we get to take down!? Awesome!" Cynthia was clearly over excited for this. "My first fight in a long time, and I have you by my side!" Cynthia nodded over towards Wendy.

"We can do this!" Wendy nodded, feeling extra confident with Cynthia by her side.

"Keh, I'll make short work of you two then…" Zancrow grinned a black flames flared around his body.

"Black flames…?" Cynthia narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling something odd about Zancrow, but she shook it off and allowed her red flames to surround her body. "Let's do it!" Cynthia made the first move; she took a step forward, and then sprinted forward, creating a crater from the pressure of her foot leaving the stone ground. When Cynthia reached Zancrow, she spun on her left heel, aiming a kick towards the flame god slayer's face, but Zancrow reacted to the kick easily, bringing up his forearm just in time to block it. "Grrr..."

"Cynthia, watch out!" Wendy jumped forward, swiping her hand across the air, sending a sharp wind towards Zancrow. "Sky Dragon's Claw!"

"A gecko?" Zancrow raised a brow as the wind came towards him. Cynthia had jumped back, leaving only Zancrow in the wind's path, so he crossed his arms, taking the attack.

Right after Wendy's attack struck the defending Zancrow, Cynthia moved in as red flames focused on her fists, which she swung at Zancrow's face. "Iron Fist of the Omega Fire Dragon!"

"Two geckos!?" Zancrow's eyes widened from surprise just slightly and Cynthia managed to strike him directly with her fist, causing Zancrow to slide back just a few inches from the attack, his head tilted to the side as a burn mark appeared. "…Haha…HAHAHAHA!"

"W-What's so funny, creep!" Cynthia asked keeping her fist up in an offensive position.

"I didn't think I would find two geckoes here! This gives me the perfect chance to try out a move that I learned from the Fire Gecko!" Zancrow laughed before pulling his own fist back, focusing his black flames around it. "Flame God's Iron Knuckle!" Zancrow then swung his fist towards Cynthia's face.

"W-What!?" Cynthia had no time to react as Zancrow's fist slammed into her face, the force sending her flying away.

"Cynthia!" Wendy's eyes widened slightly before she snapped back into combat, well aware that Cynthia was a resilient opponent. But, before Wendy could turn to Zancrow, Zancrow landed a black flaming roundhouse at Wendy's side, sending Wendy to the rock wall nearby.

"HAHAH!" Zancrow opened his mouth to laugh. "You geckoes are all the same, it seems!"

"Omega Fire Dragon's Drill!"

"What?" Zancrow looked up, only to feel Cynthia slam both her legs into Zancrow's chest, the force pushing Zancrow away across the ground, but he caught himself. "HA!"

"This guy's creeping me out…" Cynthia said as Wendy walked over to her.

"Same…" Wendy nodded in agreement. "But he's strong…"

"We're stronger!" Cynthia replied.

"Is that so?" Zancrow smirked before running forward, allowing black fire to cover his hands as he unleashed a massive stream of black fire from his arm. "Flame God's Explosive Flame!"

"Look out!" Cynthia stood in front of Wendy protectively, gritting her teeth as she took the brunt of the flames, which eventually exploded on her, but she held her ground. "These are…hot…?" Cynthia thought to herself as the attack eventually faded.

"Cynthia, are you okay?!" Wendy asked with worry.

"Y-Yeah…" Cynthia nodded slowly, looking back at Wendy. "I'm fine…But why can't I eat these flames…"

"For how long!?" Zancrow rushed the two girls again forming two enlarge black flaming fists around his arms. "Iron Knuckle!" Zancrow swung his fist at the two girls, landing a hit on both the girls, sending them from the mountain range and into the nearby thick forest area.

"Oof!" Cynthia and Wendy landed next to each other, both groaning slightly as they stood up, Zancow landing right in front of them. "This guy…"

"Something wrong, Geckos?" Zancrow asked with a smug grin.

"Just warming up!" Cynthia replied, placing her hands on the ground as a red magic seal appeared. "Omega Fire Dragon's Line!" From the magic circle, a splitting line of fire traveled across the ground and raced towards Zancrow.

"Interesting Gecko…" Zancrow thought to himself as he jumped to the side, avoiding the line of fire with ease.

Seeing Zancrow fall for the trap Cynthia set up, Wendy used this time to jump into the air, raising her arms above her head, "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" She then threw her arms down, sending multiple sharp winds towards Zancrow.

"What!?" Zancrow, who was still dodging Cynthia's attack, had no time to react to the winds coming towards him, so the attack landed directly, sending Zancrow through a tree.

"Got him!" Wendy grinned slightly and high fived Cynthia as she landed. "Now, watch carefully!" Wendy nodded then jumped forward once again as Zancrow started to stand, winds surrounding her leg. "Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

"Eh, no oh, not again," Zancrow pivoted on his right foot as he engulfed his left leg in black flames. When Wendy was close, Zancrow beat her on the draw and spun around, landing a powerful roundhouse to her cheek, sending her spiraling backwards after the hit, also with a large burn mark on her cheek.

"Wendy!" Cynthia jumped forward, grabbing Wendy's hands just before she passed her; Cynthia then began spinning around with a firm grip on Wendy. "Let's try this one again! Ready!?"

"READY!" Wendy shouted.

"GO!" After one last spin, Cynthia hurled Wendy towards Zancrow, and then quickly followed behind as red fire began to trail from her arms.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Wendy shouted once again as she used her momentum to her advantage, rearing her leg back as she neared Zancrow.

"Tch!" Zancrow quickly jumped to the side just as Wendy hit the tree behind him, easily crushing it.

"Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Right as Zancrow dodged, Cynthia swiped her arms at Zancrow, sending her "Wings" at him, catching Zancrow off guard as he slid back, rolling across the ground for a few seconds before hopping up.

"You two are beginning to annoy me…" Zancrow said in a low tone before forming his black flame scythe in his arms once again, pulling it back. "Taste the flames of a GOD!" Zancrow then swung his scythe at the two girls.

"LOOK OUT!" Wendy tackled Cynthia to the ground just as the scythe passed over them; the scythe utterly destroyed most of the forest, clearing out any trees that were in the way.

"W-Whoa…what is this guy…!? Cynthia asked quietly as she and Wendy stood up.

"Flame God Slayer of Grimoire Heart; Zancrow!" Zancrow replied, not answering Cynthia's question exactly, but he was just making sure the two girls knew his name before he killed them.

"…Creepy…OKAY!" Cynthia shook her head, and then reared her head back, puffing her cheeks out as a vortex of slightly dark red fire started to form around her mouth. "Roar…"

"CYNTHIA NO WAIT!" Wendy desperately objected; but it was too late.

"Of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia threw her head forward as a dark red magic seal appeared in front of her, and she released a funnel of dark red fire towards Zancrow, who merely smirked.

"I dunno what kinda Gecko you think you are…" Zancrow said as the funnel of fire raced towards him. "But I'll tell you one thing…I don't care how strong a lizard you're supposed to be…The flames of a god will always beat the flames of a dragon…" With that, Zancrow opened his mouth, eating Cynthia's roar.

Zancrow's action came as an extreme shock to Cynthia; never had she seen someone eat her flames with such ease. "W-W-W-WHAT!? T-THAT'S….!" It all clicked in Cynthia's head now; this was the one she was meant to be; a Flame God Slayer. But the only Flame God Slayer around died seven years ago. "Y-YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!?"

"I thought so too, but it appears that's not the case, now is it!?" Zancrow grinned as he rubbed his stomach. "Those flames of yours are quite powerful, but allow me to show you what TRUE flames are…" Zancrow opened his mouth, unleashing a funnel of black fire towards Cynthia and Wendy. "Flame God's Bellow!"

"W-What the!?" Cynthia was too in shock to think of any sort of counter attack.

"Sky Dragon's Roar….!" Wendy didn't even bother to inhale; she had no time to do so. She just opened her mouth, unleashing a sky blue hurricane towards Zancrow's bellow, stopping it just before it struck Cynthia; though the two eventually exploded, sending all three combatants back.

"Ugh…" Cynthia groaned slightly, feeling the battle damage starting to add up. Zancrow was a powerful opponent; there was no doubt about that. "You okay, Wendy…?"

"I-I'm fine…" Wendy nodded slowly as she stood up slowly, panting slightly.

"You two are still standing? Impressive…perhaps you two aren't as weak as I originally thought…" Zancrow said, obviously impressed, but he was in no way handing out any praise. "I wonder how you'll stand up against this…I also learned this from Fire Gecko…" Zancrow formed two orbs of black fire in his hands, and then raised his hands over his head, merging the two spheres together into a larger once, three times the diameter of the original spheres. "Destructive Blaze…of the Flame God!" Zancrow then hurled the large black fire sphere towards the two girls.

"Oh come on!" Cynthia groaned slightly, disliking the fact Zancrow was getting some of his moves from Natsu; though she really had no room to judge since she did the same thing. Cynthia quickly formed two orbs of dark red fire on her hands, merging them together to create a sphere equal in size to Zancrow's; Cynthia then hurled the sphere towards the incoming black one. "Radiant Blaze of the Omega Fire Dragon!" The two sphere's clashed, seemingly equal for a few moments; but then Zancrow's blaze swallowed Cynthia's and used her power against her and Cynthia, slamming into the two as a large explosion rocked the forest, creating a cloud of gray smoke. When the smoke cleared, both Wendy and Cynthia were on the ground, panting heavily. "D-Dammit…!"

"Secret God Slayer Art!" Zancrow started, bringing one arm up as black flames intensified around it. "Brilliant Explosion!" A black magic circle formed under Wendy and Cynthia, just as they got up to their hands and knees.

"L-LOOK OUT!" Cynthia screamed as the black magic circle unleashed an explosion of black flames. Zancrow grinned and laughed at the girl's screams of pain. When the explosion ended, Cynthia and Wendy were on their stomachs, heavily burned, and both panting heavily.

"What's the matter!? Do the flames of a god burn too hot for you!? HAHAHAHA!" Zancrow laughed.

After Zancrow finished laughing, all went silent for a few moments until Cynthia let off a cough, placing her hands on the ground to lift herself up; her arms shaking. "S-So…there's stronger fire out there after all…" Cynthia pulled herself up slowly, her legs shaking like jelly.

"M-Mhm…" Wendy stood up slowly as well, though she had fight to keep her balance straight. Wendy then opened her mouth, and started to inhale the air, replenishing her magical energy. "H-Hey…I brought you a snack…" Wendy said with a slight smile, opening her hand to form an omega flame for Cynthia, since Wendy was able to use Cynthia's type of fire after consuming her flames several months ago. Though she didn't enter the Omega Flame Sky mode just yet; she would if she really had to.

"I knew I could count on you…" Cynthia grinned slightly, inhaling the flames from Wendy's hand, feeling her strength come back to her. "Oh…thanks for the meal…I'm fired up now…"

"You want more?" Zancrow asked. "Because I'll be more than willing to do so!"

"Arms, Armor, Vernir!" Wendy casts the battle enhancing spells on both her and Cynthia, increasing their stats tenfold.

"It's our turn now…" Cynthia grinned slightly before crouching down. "I gotta say, those flames of your sure do pack a punch; but I've done much better."

Cynthia's comment ticked Zancrow off; he refused to believe a dragon could be stronger than a god. "A gecko can't beat a god!" Zancrow screamed.

"Maybe one can't…but two can!" Cynthia's body lit up in dark red flames, and she rushed towards Zancrow, immediately entering close combat with the flame god slayer. Zancrow complied, engulfing his fist in black flames as the two began to dance. Cynthia swung a fist at Zancrow's face, landing a hit, though Zancrow immediately returned fire with a punch to Cynthia's own cheek, but the weakened girl managed to hold her ground, and swung another fist at Zancrow, but he managed to avoid this one, and threw his own fist at Cytnhia's chest, but she avoided that one. Cynthia then swung her fist once again in time with Zancrow's and the two fire users managed to strike each other at the same time. Cynthia then snapped her leg for a quick kick, but Zancrow ducked, and landed a roaring uppercut on Cynthia's chin, sending Cynthia stumbled back.

"Secret Art! Shattering Light: Sky Drill!" Wendy twirled her finger around, then caused a cyclone of wind to appear around Zancrow; contracting inwards.

"W-What the…!?" Zancrow had no time to react to the attack as a large explosion quickly followed, leaving Zancrow damaged, but he could still fight, as shown by him hopping back up only seconds after the attack hit.

"H-He's a monster…." Wendy said with widened eyes, surprised that Zancrow could still keep going; it didn't even look like he had any signs of fatigue.

"Wendy!" Cynthia jumped into the high into the air as fire trailed her arms.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Slash!" Wendy sent the sharp winds from her arms, but they weren't aimed at Zancrow; instead, she aimed them towards Cynthia, who took control of the winds after, allowing them to wrap around the flames trailing from her arms. "Wing Slam of the Omega Sky Flame Dragon!" Cynthia brought her arms down, slamming the mixture of omega flames and wind down at Zancrow, creating a miniature smoke cloud from impact.

"Did we get him?" Wendy asked as she peered into the smoke.

"Not even!" Zancrow lunged from the smoke, aiming a high kick at Wendy's chin; the force sent Wendy into the air with a pained shriek. Zancrow jumped into the air as black fire trailed his arms. "I'm learning a lot of new things today, wouldn't you say!? HAHAH! Flame God's Might Impact!" This was yet another variation of Natsu's moves; just like the Wing Slash, only this time Zancrow slammed his arms into Wendy, sending her hurtling back to the ground.

"Wendy!" Cynthia landed on the ground, but she used her always improving leg strength to leap into the air, aiming herself at Zancrow, pulling her fist back as she focused most of her magical power into a dark red fire fist.

Zancrow took notice of this, and turned quickly as he formed a black sphere of fire between his hands; the orb expanded quickly until an entire sphere of fire surrounded Zancrow. "Flame God's Kagutsuchi!" Cynthia swung her fist at the sphere, clashing with the god flames for a decent amount of time, but eventually the force of the flames caused Cynthia to yelp out as she hit the forest floor, smoke coming off her body. Zancrow landed on the ground, and then observed the two girls lying face down on the ground, thinking of which one to get rid of first. He then decided that Cynthia was the more troublesome one, so he decided to get rid of her. "Flame God's Supper!" Zancrow then sent a mouth shaped blast of black fire at Cynthia, consuming her whole. "Now…that one is out of the way!" Zancrow turned his attention to Wendy, who stared wide at the mouth that capture Cynthia, and was currently burning her to ashes.

"C-CYNTHIA!" Wendy scrambled up to her feet, but before she could go anywhere, Zancrow grabbed Wendy by her collar, slamming his fist into her stomach to wind her, making it difficult for her to take advantage of the close range and roar. Cynthia could see what was happening through the darkness of the black flames, but her prior injuries made it difficult for her to do much, and she was unable to eat the flames currently burning her.

"All weaklings will face the flames of a god! The Flames of a god destroy everything in its path!" Zancrow laughed loudly once more before throwing Wendy onto the ground. "Looks like in the end, the two geckoes weren't strong enough to defeat the god after all…" Zancrow said as he raised his foot, engulfing it with the blackest fire imaginable. Zancrow then started to bring his foot down, but an all too familiar inhalation sound started to fill the area, causing Zancrow's eyes to widen as he turned around; Cynthia was indeed inhaling his flames. "W-WHAT?! THAT'S IMPOSSBLE!"

Cynthia finished inhaling the flames, her body and clothing scorched beyond belief as black flames surrounded her. Cynthia's hair shaded her eyes so they were a blazing red. "Don't…touch…Wendy…" Without another word, and in a swift movement, Cynthia sprinted up to Zancrow as black fire surrounded her fist. "Iron Fist of the Omega Flame God!" Cynthia slammed her fist into Zancrow's chest, causing Zancrow's eyes to widen as he flew back, hitting a tree. "Now!" Cynthia jumped into the air, spinning around as black fire started to from in a cyclone formation. "Secret Art! Cyclone Slash of the Omega Flame God!" Cynthia threw her hands forward, unleashing a raging cyclone of her own fire and Zancrow's fire forward, engulfing the Flame God Slayer in the attack, resulting in a large explosion after. Cynthia landed next to Wendy, panting heavily as she fell to her knees. When the smoke from the explosion cleared…Zancrow was still standing, though he was heavily damaged. "N-No way…"

"T-That's not possible…" Wendy's eyes widened as she stared at Zancrow, who smirked widely.

"As I said…geckoes can't beat a god…" Zancrow's black flames surrounded his body once again; he took a step forward…and collapsed, falling unconscious.

"H-He passed out!" Wendy let out a sigh of relief.

"W-We won…! WE WON!" Cynthia said excitedly. "We took one down! ACK…" Cynthia held her stomach, wincing.

"A-Are you okay!?" Wendy asked.

"I-I don't know…I still had magic when I ate those flames…I'm not sure that was a good idea…my stomach hurts…I feel like its being ripped down…help…"

"H-Hold on…!"

.

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Ruika observed Zancrow's battle from afar, shaking her head slightly. "All that talk, and he lost to a pair of children…"

.

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"Are you sure he is of use to us now…?" Blake asked.

"The girls got lucky," Diana replied. "After all that, Zancrow was still ready to go. He passed out, meaning some form of damage he took earlier got to him. "For being seven years outdated, he certainly didn't lose his touch…"


	18. Chapter 18

Ultear watched through her time ark as Zancrow fell unconscious in front of Wendy and Cynthia; leaving her with a confused expression etched onto her features as she furrowed her brows. "Now…that's not right…"

"Did somethin' happen?" Horoki asked, taking a puff of his cigarette after speaking, and blowing out some smoke after.

"It appears Zancrow has fallen…" Ultear replied to Horoki, keeping her eyes fixated on the two female dragon slayers that defeated him.

"Eh? The Flame God Slayer is down already?" Veronica asked. "How lame…it hasn't even been that long!"

"Who took 'em out?" Bryon asked.

"Two dragon slayers. Sky and Omega Fire it seems…" Ultear replied, unfamiliar with Cynthia in the slightest.

"Ohoho…" A smirk crossed Byron's face. "Looks like you know who is back in business…"

"So, she and the sky dragon slayer felled Zancrow?" Jikan asked.

"He fell unconscious, meaning the girls got lucky," Ultear replied as she used her hand to brush some of her hair behind her shoulder. "It doesn't appear to matter however…those two girls are rather damaged, and the one who consumed his flames don't seem to be doing too well."

"So, will you be joining the fray now, Mlikovich?" Jikan asked curiously.

"It's not my business," Ultear replied. "I am not one of the 7 Kin." Ultear then showed off the Silent Sanctum mark on her backside. "But, if a few more fall, I'll go out to humor some people…"

"Yeesh, why is this one apart of the guild again, Master Jikan?" Byron asked.

"You will see, in time…" Jikan replied.

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Selene and Aira appeared in the middle of White Eclipse after the Shadow Travel, both bruised and heavily battered; though Aira was in a much worse condition with blood pouring from every open wound in her body. "H-Help…" Selene cried out weakly, though she didn't need to as nearly everyone in the guild flooded to their location.

"W-What happened to you two!?" Nami gasped as she looked over towards the two, but then her face turned pale. "B-Blood…" Nami gagged slightly, but she couldn't hold it in anymore and she rushed for the bathroom and started to vomit in the toilet.

"W-We ran into one of those 7 Kin guys…" Selene groaned slightly as Kuro and Zain (the doctor of White Eclispe) lifted Aira slowly, and immediately carried her over to the infirmary for immediate treatment.

"Are they really that dangerous…!?" Zain asked with widened eyes as he supported Selene up.

"He used my attack against me…and hit Aira with it…I'm sorry, Aira…" Selene winced.

"Save your strength…." Taya said with a slight frown.

"I'm starting to think we may have underestimated them…" Michio said quietly.

.

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Takeru found that he was unable to keep up with Yomazu even with two shadow katanas in his hand. Yomazu's swordsmanship was excellent; that of a master in fact. Takeru had multiple gashes on his body from taking slashes, while Yomazu only had a few. "Shadow Dragon's Hide!" Takeru created a coat of shadows to protect him, similar to Gajeel's iron scales. This only caused Yomazu to smirk, however.

"Your protection won't do anything against my sword!" Yomazu said confidently as he gripped his sword, rushing towards Takeru. "Dark Sword: Narukami!" Yomazu shouted as he slashed at Takeru multiple times, going past him as he the final slash that followed created a dark wave, cutting through Takeru's defensive hide with ease, and damaging the shadow dragon slayer after. Though Takeru bit his lip to keep from crying out in pain, the damage was more than obvious.

"Takeru!" Waiston shouted, his eyes wide from the attack.

"I don't think he can hear you!" Yomazu said with a large grin as he created a large kanji sign in front of him. The sign unleashed powerful, deafening sound that drowned out all other sound in the area, making it difficult for Waiston or Takeru to hear anything else.

"D-Dammit!" Waiston covered his hands over his ears as the sound started to shake the ruins of the destroyed town.

"You're sitting ducks now-peron!" Kawazu shouted as he jumped into the air once again, upchucking a storm of eggs that rained down on Waiston and Takeru, causing them to shout out, but the noise was drowned by the kanji sign.

Though the sound was making it nearly impossible for Takeru and Waiston to move, Takeru looked up to Waiston with the "I have an idea," look. Waiston nodded, willing to do anything to get out of this situation. Takeru sank into the shadows, providing relief from the deafening noise overhead, but Takeru's leave only made Kawazu and Yomazu laugh.

"He left him-peron!" Kawazu laughed mockingly.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art! Hailstorm!" A large blue magic seal appeared in the sky, releasing large spheres of hail which rained down on Yomazu and Kawazu.

"Egg Wall!" Kawazu started as he took a deep breath; but his deep breath turned into a gasp as one arm appeared from the shadows underneath him and Yomazu, cutting off the kanji creating the noise.

"W-What the!?" Yomazo looked down, only to see Takeru's hands sticking from the shadows. Though it was too late for either to do anything as the hail storm slammed onto them, creating a miniature explosion of ice once finished. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, Yomazu and Kawazu were in KO.

"S-Shit…" Takeru appeared from the shadows, coughing up small traces of blood. "Those two were stronger than I thought they were going to be…"

"We still beat them though…!" Waiston said with a grin. "Though I dunno how much longer I'll be able to go…"

"Let's…let's return back home…and see what's going on there…"

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"Are you sure it was okay to leave Kagura alone back there…?" Lucy asked as she, Natsu, Happy, Lily, and Gajeel ran off from the area in which Kagura and Bluenote were doing battle.

"We have more important things to worry about right now," Gajeel replied.

"Besides, she's strong enough to compete with Erza, so she can handle him!" Natsu nodded.

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"Show me…if you can fly…" Bluenote said while crossing his arms. Kagura gripped her sheathed blade and made the initial charge, lunging forward towards Bluenote.

Bluenote wanted to test Kagura, so he formed a dark magic purple over her, increasing the gravity around her person, forcing her into the ground. "Is that all you can do?"

"…If you think this will stop me, then you're going to have a hard time defeating me…" Kagura replied as a magic circle appeared under her, causing the gravity to decrease, now fighting for balance with Bluenote's power, but Kagura was able to stand afterwards, something that made Bluenote smirk. This confirmed his suspicions.

"Oh yes…you can fly alright…" Bluenote said with a grin.

"Strong Form…" Kagura was clearly in no mood for simple small talk, and she showed it by adapting a stabbing stance, rushing in towards Bluenote while decreasing the gravity around her person, thus increasing her speed. Kagrua raised her sheathed blade, Archenemy, and swung it down towards Bluenote.

Bluenote was clearly surprised by it, but luckily for him his reflexes were fast enough to react to the incoming Kagura, so he jumped to the side just as Kagura swung her blade. Kagura's blade hit the ground, but it easily destroyed the earth that took the impact, creating a large crater upon impact, which only caused Bluenote to grin. "Impressive!" Kagura said not a word, but she easily managed to shift her momentum and charged towards Bluenote once again, aiming another powerful blow with her sheathed blade. Bluenote held his hand out as a purple magic seal appeared, and a powerful push of gravity shot out form the magic circle, catching Kagura off guard, which in turn sent her rolling across the ground for a few seconds before she caught herself. Kagura looked up just in time to see Bluenote coming towards her with a fist pulled back.

Kagura let out a small grunt of surprise but she brought her blade up as a weak form of defense, but Bluenote easily broke through it and sent the Mermaid sliding back across the ground once more, but she stopped herself eventually. "He's is powerful…" Kagura thought to herself.

"I know you can fly," Bluenote said to Kagura with a grin plastered over his face. "You could fly even higher if you actually used that blade of yours."

Kagura looked to Bluenote with a stern expression, shaking her head slightly as she gripped her sheathed blade once more. "My blade is not for the likes of you."

"Then I guess you're out of luck," Bluenote replied. "The potential to fly so high…yet you prefer to fall…" As Bluenote said fall, a magic circle appeared over Kagura, increasing the gravity around her intensely, bringing the Mermaid to her knees as the ground cratered and cracked under her.

"I haven't…relied on luck since the moment I was born…" Kagura replied, standing up slowly without the use of her own gravity, which caught Bluenote off guard, but his grin actually widened. Kagura then sprinted forward towards Bluenote with her sword held in a stabbing position, then swung it towards Bluenote, landing a direct hit, the power sending Bluenote skidding back across the ground, thought she didn't end her assault there; Kagura then switched to her slashing form, landing multiple slashes on Bluenote that were all strong enough to cut through Erza's Adamantine Armor, though considering Bluenote was on a level above Erza, the slashes weren't as damaging to him.

"Excellent…" Bluenote grinned before using his own gravity on his arms to increase the power of his punches, though it didn't weight him down in the slightest. He charged towards Kagura and began to swing heavy gravity infused punches at Kagura's upper body and midsection. Kagura was quick on her feet, so she was able to avoid most of Bluenote's punches but swaying her body from side to side, but he then threw her for a loop when he went for a head butt, causing Kagura to stumble back, and while she was off guard Bluenote landed a gravity infused punch to her sternum, sending her rolling back across the ground once again, but she caught herself. "Come now, Mermaid. Will you fall short? Or will you fly?"

.

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"What are the stats so far, Magnus?" Daryan asked while tapping his foot.

"Well…so far, five mages from Fairy Tail have fallen, two White Eclipse mages have fallen, one mage from Twilight Zone has fallen, and I can say that Kagura of Mermaid Heel is having a difficult time against Bluenote Stinger." Magnus replied.

"What about the other guilds?" Alex asked.

"It appears Quatro Cerberus' Blues has gone down protecting Twilight Zone's Melanie Hasani from Rusty Rose. Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus have yet to run into any Grimoire Heart members." Magnus nodded.

"Your power of prediction is something else…" Daryan said. "But anyway, I think it's time I went out now."

"You're going out?" Gaia asked.

"Well, someone's gotta step in before things get too outta hand, and besides, it'll be great in getting this guild recognized," Daryan nodded.

.

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"L-Look over here!" Skye pointed Kairi in the direction of Juvia and Gray's unconscious bodies.

"What happened to them…!?" Kairi asked as she rushed over to the two.

"They were not strong enough to defeat me; this is the fate of the weak," Azuma replied as he walked from a tree nearby.

"W-What the…!?" Skye was taken aback by Azuma's sudden appearance, but a serious expression crossed her face after.

"I'm guessing this one is one of the 7 kin…" Kairi said as she narrowed her eyes at Azuma, who stood calmly.

"I wonder…are you two strong enough to take me on…?" Azuma asked, pondering the thought. "Are you two stronger than Titania seven years ago?"

"We're from White Eclipse!" Skye said in a cheerful, yet serious tone. "We're strong enough to take on anyone!"

"White Eclispe…?" Azuma asked, unfamiliar with the guild in the slightest, but he decided he would pay a visit to the guild later if things went as planned for him. "I see…well then, don't just stand there. Show me your power, and I'll show you mine."


	19. Chapter 19: Kairi and Skye vs Azuma

A large shockwave thundered throughout the area as Kagura and Bluenote continued to do battle. The two met each other halfway with their attacks; Kagura with her sheathed blade, and Bluenote with his powerful punch. After a few seconds, the two had to jump back, creating a gap between the two once again, but Bluenote quickly took advantage of this, and held his arm out as a purple magic circle formed in front of him, releasing a quick burst of gravity that sent Kagura flying. Kagura let out a quick grunt of surprise and pain before flipping and landing on the side of a building. Kagura then shifted the momentum from her chest down to her feet, creating a crack in the building as she changed the gravity around her person in time with her jumping from the building, increasing her velocity as she lunged forwards Bluenote. "Perfect…!" Bluenote grinned; glad that Kagura wasn't going down as easily as the last people he fought.

Kagura was slightly annoyed by Bluenote's occasional comments about her strength; it didn't prevent her from focusing, per se, but she knew she could do without the side comments. Either way, Kagura did not use her blade this time, as she knew Bluenote would expect this; instead, she shifted her weight onto her leg, landing a devastating spin kick to Bluenote's side, causing the gravity mage to slide across the ground a few feet. After landing on her feet, Kagura continued the assault, entering her Strong Form once again as she brought her blade up, and brought it down on Bluenote, who managed to block it with his forearm, though he felt the power behind it, and the ground under him cracked into a few foot crater. Bluenote clenched his free hand, and then brought it upward with the force of gravity, slamming it into Kagura's gut, causing her eyes to widen as the hit was enough to knock the wind out of her. Seeing the opportunity rising, Bluenote repeated the action, but with much more force, knocking Kagura away as she rolled across the ground before coming to a stop, using the space she had to chance her breath. "D-Dammit…"

"It appears…" Bluenote said as he jumped into the air, aiming his foot out as the gravity around him increased to improve his momentum, thus making his hit that more devastating. "You can't fly at all…"

"Silver Make: Dome!" Melody shouted, just in time as a silver dome appeared around Kagura, taking the brunt of Bluenote's attack. The dome shattered, but Kagura was unharmed.

"Melody?" Kagura was a bit surprised at the sudden defense granted to her by the silver-haired girl.

"You leave Kagura-san alone…!" Melody shouted as she ran next to Kagura.

"A guild member of yours?" Bluenote asked as he took a few steps back.

"No…" Kagura replied. It was true; Melody was technically not apart of Mermaid Heel, though Kagura knew why Melody came to help her in the first place.

"Doesn't matter…You cannot fly…so you will fall instead…" Bluenote replied as he spread his arms out.

"Gravity God's Bellow!"

"What?" The sudden shout took Bluenote's attention as he turned, only to receive a heavy blast of gravity which nearly sent him flying, but he held his ground. "Who?!"

"Heh, well, well…" Cygnus said with a smirk as he wiped his mouth. "Didn't think I'd run into a gravity mage and THE gravity mage…" Cygnus said, referencing Bluenote as the stronger between him and Kagura.

"White Eclispe…" Kagura mumbled under her breath before standing up, shaking off the impact from earlier.

"You three think you can fly?" Bluenote asked as he eyed the three mages in a semi-circle around him.

"I don't mean to burst your bubble, Bluenote," Cygnus said as he took a step forward. "But I'm not just a normal gravity mage. I'm the Gravity GOD. So good luck tryin' to fly against me."

"So much confidence…I like your attitude…but I'll be the judge if you can fly or not…god…" Bluenote replied as he charged the three.

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"Requiem!" Skye shouted, causing a straight wide sword with a thick, sturdy blade and accentuated broad edge almost as tall as the five foot four girl. Skye took this large blade and swung it down towards Azuma immediately, but Azuma quickly jumped out of the way, causing the blade to slam into the ground, creating a large crater after.

"Hmm…" Azuma thought, somewhat impressed by the power of the blade. He then looked over to see Kairi charging at him as her appearance started to change. "Takeover…?"

Kairi's outfit changed into one into a white suit, almost that of a one-piece bathing suit, her sides and back revealed, along with accented diagonal stripes. Following this, her irises changed from their normal violent color to a golden sheen, and her long white hair became longer and waiver. To finish the outfit off, white boots that reached her thighs, matching wrist-length globes, decorated with a black trim and gold and silver beads appeared on her body. This was the first of Kairi's angel takeovers; Angel Soul. Kairi gathered magic into her palms, and then fired off a concentrated beam of light over to Azuma. "Light Beam!"

"Hm…" Azuma held his hand out, summoning a large tree root from the ground that protected him from the attack with relative ease, shocking Kairi slightly.

"Not too bad…" Azuma said, though he wasn't handing anyone any praise. He then looked up, seeing Skye coming down with Requiem once again. Instead of dodging, Azuma held his hand out. "Bleve…" Just before Skye could get close to Azuma with her large blade, the area in front of Azuma lit up in an explosion, which blew Skye away with a yelp of pain.

"Skye!" Kairi shouted as Skye flew back, though it was a mistake to take her eyes off Azuma, as Azuma summoned a massive clenched fist from a nearby tree, and it slammed into Kairi, the force hurtling her back into a different tree. Kairi let out a grunt of pain after as the hit left her disorientated, leaving her with no time to react to the fist coming in for another devastating hit.

"Claymore!" Skye shouted, rushing in quickly, and with a single swipe of her blade, she was able to cleave through the fist with no trouble, thus protecting Kairi from the attack. "Nii-chan, are you okay?"

"I'm fine…" Kairi replied after gaining her senses back. Kairi then jumped forward towards Azuma, throwing a combination of punches and kicks towards Azuma's body. To Kairi's surprise, Azuma was proficient in terms of close combat, as proven by his skill of deflecting all of her punches. Azuma caught one of Kairi's punches, and then slammed his fist into her face, causing her to fly back.

As Kairi flew back, Skye jumped forward with Claymore, aiming multiple, rapid slashes to Azuma, yet Azuma's agility proved superior to Skye's as he swayed out of the way of an incoming slash, then jumped back, swiping his hand across the air. "Folium Sica!" Azuma then summoned forth several massive funnels of sharp leaves that struck Skye, creating multiple cuts on her body.

Kairi recovered quickly from the push back earlier, and she now had her hands cupped to her sides, gathering light magic in the negative space. The light magic formed into a sphere that flashed a gold and silver color, and she then sent it hurtling towards Azuma. "Cosmic Explosion!"

"Tree Shield!" Azuma prompted several tree roots to form around him in a circle position, effectively shielding him from Kairi's attack as the devastating explosion that followed form the collision left Azuma unscathed, causing Kairi's eyes to widen.

"W-What is this guy!?" Kairi asked aloud, surprised that someone like Azuma could even exist.

Azuma had braches wrap around Kairi's limbs, thus restricting her movement, despite her objecting attempts to move. "Chain Burst!" He then generated a fast line of moving explosions along the roots, all of which struck Kairi, causing her to let out a yelp of pain.

Skye, unable to watch the sight of the continuing explosions, requipped two swords, and then ran towards the tree roots, cutting them all in half, thus releasing Kairi. The blades made not a sound as Skye slashed. Using her momentum, she rushed towards Azuma once again, slashing at him with two blades this time. Though Azuma had the superior agility, Skye proved that she was no slouch either as she landed a few slashes on Azuma's chest, forearm, and shoulder. "Those movements…" Azuma thought to himself as he avoided a slash, and landed a roundhouse to Skye's side, sending her tumbling away. "She's an assassin…" Azuma easily deduced this from Skye's movements, but he took his focus off the battle for one second, which was all Kairi needed to fire off yet another Cosmic Explosion; this one landing, as Azuma slid back across the ground.

"Meteor Blast!" Kairi shouted as a gold magic seal appeared in front of her, which unleashing several light meteors towards Azuma.

"Tree Shield!" Azuma shouted once again, causing the circular branch barrier to form around him again, protecting him from the attack flawlessly, though Kairi used his time to move in quickly, her fist pulled back as she swung it towards Azuma's face…who quickly caught it, then slammed his fist into Kairi's stomach, her eyes widening as she flew back slightly. Azuma then looked to his left, noticing Skye just recovering from the earlier hit. Azuma held his hands out, creating a thin shockwave line towards both Kairi and Skye, which shattered the ground beneath them; but that was the least of their worries. The real problem was the explosions that followed after, landing directly on the two girls as they let out screams of agony. When the smoke from the explosions cleared, both girls were heavily damaged, yet they refused to go down.

"He's strong…" Skye said while panting with one eye clenched shut. She then requipped from her silent blades two a thin, long, light weight Chinese sword. She made sure to take note of Azuma's agility, after it bested her twice in this battle, though something about Skye's demeanor in the battle was changing.

"Hm…?" Azuma turned to Skye after seeing Kairi was still catching her breath. Before Azuma could decide on what to do next, Skye rushed him once more, his agility increased due to the Chinese blade. Azuma was slight caught off guard due to this, so Skye actually managed to land multiple slashes on his body despite his dodging. Azuma threw a kick to Skye's side once again, but Skye dodged it, and brought her blade upward, aiming for an upward slash on Azuma, but Azuma's amazing reflexes kicked into motion, and he bent his body back, the blade grazing his skin, creating thin cut; nothing as bad if it were a direct hit. Azuma then extended his arms, shouting "Tower burst!" Just then, a large tower of flames erupted from his immediate vicinity, which only included Skye, and she let out an ear-piercing scream of pain as the tower of flames raged on. Her body eventually hit the ground, steam flowing off of it as it went entirely limp.

"S-SKYE!" Kairi's eyes widened as she made her way to her feet, now feeling a sense of rage towards Azuma. Though in the back of her mind she knew she wouldn't be able to defeat such a powerful opponent on her own, but she was certainly going to try.

"I do not think you are strong enough to defeat me, but I will acknowledge your strength, Angel," Azuma said. "I search for the strong, but I will spare the weak, so they may become strong later, and hopefully give me a challenge later."

"I don't need your pity…" Kairi replied as she cut her eyes to the tree mage. "Zetzu!" Kairi fired off multiple void blasts at Azuma, which quickly exploded around him before he had the chance to react, though Azuma reacted quickly after the hit, slamming his knee into Kairi's stomach, then raised his fist, slamming them down on Kairi's head, bringing the girl down to the ground in a half conscious state.

"Do not say I didn't give you the chance…" Azuma replied.

"N-Necrosis…" The brunette stood up slowly, her burned body literally shaking as a large scythe appeared in her arms; but this was no normal scythe. From the tip of the scythe's blade, a deadly poison started to drip onto the ground, causing the eyes of Azuma and Kairi to widen considerably.

"Sk-Skye…!?" Kairi started, fighting to stay conscious for the most part as she observed Skye and the weapon she held. "W-What is that…!?"

"I-I don't know…" Skye replied. "But…for some reason it feels right…" Skye carefully placed one foot on the ground, attempting to calm the shaking her body was doing before she lunged forward, aiming Necrosis at Azuma.

"That poison…!" Azuma knew in an instant that the poison dripping from Necrosis was deadly, and one slash of that would finish him no problem, so as a quick defense, he summoned three thick tree roots to block the attack. Skye managed to cut through two of the tree roots, and third once just barely managed to defend Azuma as he stared with widened eyes. Skye pulled Necrosis from the root, and then swung at Azuma once again, repeating her action until she landed a hit. Something else was driving Syke, but she didn't know what it was, all she knew is that it felt right for her.

"Skye…" Kairi had no idea what was going on, but she placed her hand on the ground, pushing herself up slowly, though she found it difficult as her arms were shaking more than jelly; in fact, she couldn't even feel them at this point, but she knew if she could create an opening for Skye, the battle would be over. "Light Beam…" Kairi aimed her hands forward, firing a relatively weak beam of light towards Azuma.

The weak beam of light was effective, as Azuma froze for just a second after the beam hit his back…and that was all Skye needed to swing a devastating slash across Azuma's chest...If Azuma didn't recover immediately after, and shifted his body to the side, casing Syke to miss. But, Skye quickly recovered, and pointed her hand out, unleashing a blue, paralytic lightning that struck Azuma's body, freezing it in place. Syke then swiped her scythe across Azuma's chest once again, creating a large gash, causing his eyes to widen as the poison seeped into his body, though Skye didn't utter a single word…but she did fall over in pure exhaustion, panting heavily. "…."

Azuma uttered not a word as his skin began to pale, his veins showing as he started to stumble back with no control of his body. He opened his mouth to speak, but the poison got to him, and he continued to stumble around before he took a wrong step, and his body ended up falling into the depths of the forest as he fell off a cliff.

"S-Skye!" Kairi scrambled to her feet as she ran over to Syke, who showed signs of being relatively okay.

Skye's normal demeanor returned as she looked up at Kairi. "D-Did we get him…?" Kairi looked over to where Azuma's body fell, in shock as she realized he was most likely dead, but she nodded slowly nonetheless.


	20. Chapter 20: Grimoire Heart's Second Wind

Ultear gazed into her time ark for a few seconds before she stood up, a serious expression on her face. The woman's sudden rise caused the other members around to look at her with a somewhat puzzled expression on their faces. "Whoa, what's up with you?" Horoki asked as he took a drink from the bottle of alcohol he was holding.

"Azuma has gone down," Ultear replied.

"Azuma? The mighty Tree mage?" Veronica replied while filing her nails indifferently.

"Who managed to take him down?" Byron asked.

"An assassin," Ultear replied once again.

"HA!" Byron laughed, unable to hold it in. "A simple assassin knocked off the mighty tree mage?!"

"I don't see the laughing matter, Byron," Ultear replied in a more serious tone, causing the requip mage to stop laughing. "That girl knew what she was doing. Azuma fell to a deadly poison; he's most likely dead."

"So that's two down…" Aloysius said.

"And it's about time I decided to get involved," Ultear's face gained a slight smirk as her time arc started to float around her waist.

"Oh, so you're finally gettin' off yer lazy ass, huh?" Byron asked.

Ultear immediately cut her eyes towards Byron, looking towards the male in annoyance and sort disgust; though Byron returned the look with a simple smirk. Jikan stepped forward in between the two mages. "Both of you calm down," Jikan demanded. "Now, Ultear, you're going out, correct?"

"That is correct," Ultear nodded.

"Hm, be careful not to fall to any mages," Jikan replied. "You are important to our operations later."

"Yes, I understand, Master," Ultear nodded before walking out of Silent Sanctum.

.

.

Cynthia's eyes popped open, and she looked around, realizing she was in an unfamiliar infirmary. Though this thought quickly ridded itself from her mind as her stomach started to hurt, causing Cynthia to groan loudly. "UGGGGH…"

"She's awake…" Flynn, who was wrapped in bandages, along with the other people in the infirmary, said.

"Cynthia…!" Wendy let out a quick sigh of relief.

"Wendy! Ugh…Where are we?" Cynthia asked, looking around the room.

"This is the Twilight Zone infirmary," Flynn replied. The infirmary held several other people as well, three being Blues, Kuro Chi, and Melanie. Kuro and Melanie were wrapped in bandages, but Blues was on a bed, a large bandage over his eye, and he was unconscious.

"What happened here…?" Wendy asked as she looked at the other three people within the infirmary.

"Grimoire Heart's what happened," Kuro replied while looking over at Blues, a saddened look on his face.

"I-I'm sorry…" Melanie looked towards the floor; she couldn't bear to look Kuro in the eye or even look at Blues in his current state, feeling guilty over what happened.

"What happened?" Evanee walked in, folding her arms as she looked at her safe, but injured members. "And I can see some of our guests are awake."

"Grimoire Heart happened," Kuro replied to Evanee.

{Flash back}

"Alright, Kuro, you ready to finish this?" Blues asked with an excited grin as they stared down Rustyrose, who was busy fixing his glasses with two of his fingers.

The snow haired water god slayer nodded with a slight grin. Though he and Blues were both moderately damaged, they proved themselves more than a match for the Arc of Embodiment mage. "Dragon God duo gonna whip that ass!" Kuro shouted.

"Go Blues! Go Kuro!" Melanie shouted cheerfully from the sidelines; though her cheering caught the attention of Rustyrose, and he suddenly knew how he was going to win this battle.

"Hm, you two are more durable than most trash, but that is what you all are in the end, Trash," Rustyrose said as a sadistic grin started to form over his face.

"We haven't even gotten serious yet!" Blues replied as a blue aura started to form around his body. "Blue Drive…"

"Interesting…your imagination has truly led you to believe you can defeat the likes of me!" Rustyrose snickered before snapping his fingers, enveloping Melanie in a wave of ghost like enemies, which wrapped around and constricted her. "Ghost of Brittia!"

"Let's take him out!" Kuro shouted.

"Belcusas the Thunderclap, rid the world of these two!" Rustyrose snapped his fingers again, creating an enormous, heavily armored physically powerful creature in front of Blues and Kuro. Normally this would be no problem to the Dragon God duo, but with Melanie constricted, they had to work faster than normal.

"Easy!" Blues shouted as he got into a running position; but then the unthinkable happened. Rustyrose transformed his right arm into a claw-like sword, and extended it over towards the immobilized Melanie. "Melanie…!" Everything went in slow motion at this moment for Blues; using his Blue Drive, he ran over to Melanie, tackling her out of the ghost; though this didn't come without consequence. Rustyrose managed to land a slash on Blue's left eye, knocking him out immediately.

"B-BLUES!" Kuro's eyes widened, but before he could do anything else Belcusas used its immense strength to knock him away.

{End flashback}

"I-It's all my fault…" Melanie said.

"It's not your fault," Kuro said reassuringly.

"Ugggh…" Cynthia groaned slightly. "My stomach still hurts…"

"You've been groaning for the last few hours," Evanee replied in a slightly irritated tone. She placed her hands on her hips, staring over at Cynthia. "Now isn't the time to be complaining from simple stomach pains."

"It's not simple!" Cynthia replied before groaning once again. "Wendy and I beat Zancrow, though for the last hit I still had some magic went I ate that stupid god fire…and my stomach's been killing me ever since…"

"I have an idea!" Tsami said as she hopped into the infirmary, seemingly out of nowhere along with Rylo.

"…How long have you been out there?" Evanee asked while raising a brow, though she quickly decided that it was unimportant. "What's your idea?"

"Well, judging by her problem, if she expels that magic, it shouldn't hurt anymore, right?" Tsami said with a slightly enthusiastic nod.

"It's worth a shot," Rylo replied.

"I guess I could try…" Cynthia nodded slowly, hopping off the bed before heading outside.

"So, while she does that, what are we gonna do about Grimoire Heart?" Rylo asked, crossing his arms.

"You aren't doing anything," Evanee replied as she turned her back, starting to walk out the door.

"W-what?" Rylo was a bit surprised by the Evanee's immediate decline of his entering the battle.

Though Evanee was usually somewhat cold and distant towards her guild mates, she cared deeply for them, and to see them hurt bothered her just as it would a normal person. "There aren't that many left; I'll handle them," Evanee said as she walked outside, though she stopped when she saw Cynthia's cheeks and her stomach puffed out considerably. "What the…?"

"Roar…of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia tilted her head up, unleashing a massive torrent of red flames into the sky, depleting herself of magic power, though the force of the roar shook the southern mountain which Twilight Zone rested, causing the other members to run outside to see what the cause was, only to stand in shock when they saw the power came from Cynthia.

"Whoa!" Rylo's top hat nearly flew off from the wind the roar picked up, but he quickly placed his hands on his head to keep it from flying.

"What kind of power…" Taranis said quietly, clearly impressed by Cynthia's strength.

"That's not even her full strength…" Wendy said with a sort of pride, yet a sort of guilt at the same time. Though she said this quietly, so no one really heard what she said. Cynthia finally stopped her roar, letting out a sigh of relief as she held her stomach, grinning.

"It worked!" Cynthia nodded, then grinned cheekily as she ran over to Tasmi and hugged the seaweed-green haired mage tightly, bouncing up and down. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're welcome!" Tsami shouted as her eyes started to spin. Cynthia released the hug, then nodded towards Wendy.

"Let's head back home…I'm sure the others can handle the rest," Cynthia said.

"Hai…" Wendy nodded, then turned to Evanee, but realized the stone dragon slayer already left, causing a small frown to appear on Wendy's face. "O-Oh…I wanted to thank her…"

.

.

At an open plain, Sting, Rogue, Luke, and Heather faced off against Rustyrose, though they weren't having an easy time. Rustyrose managed to deflect most of, if not all, the group's attacks with his golden shield, which was indeed capable of deflecting any attack. Rustyrose still had damage from his earlier fight with the two water dragon slayers and the water god slayer, but the damage was nothing compared to the damage he inflicted on the group. "What's the matter, running out of steam?"

"This guy is REALLY annoying…" Luke panted, glaring up at the embodiment mage.

"You can say that again…" Sting replied. Both he and Rouge were in their respective drives, White and Shadow, yet Rustyrose managed to keep up with them.

"If I could get a hit with my poison…" Heather started, forming a magenta colored magic seal in front of her as she held her hands out. "Poison Dragon's Scales." After Heather spoke, she unleashed a storm of scales that rushed towards Rustyrose.

"My, my…you seem to forget quite easily…" Rustyrose said as he pushed up his glasses once more, this time an evil shine twinkling from them for a split second. "The ultimate shield that can push anything back!" Rustyrose replied as his left arm turned into a golden shield.

"White Dragon's Roar!"

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Sting and Rouge unleashed their respective roars, merging them with Heather's scales to create a hurricane of white and shadow with poisonous scales circling around it.

"Roar…!" Luke started as the unison raid flew by him. "Of the Lightning Ice Dragon!" Luke threw his head forward, unleashing a funnel of ice and electricity, merging it with the unison raid.

"Ha!" Rustyrose let out a laugh as the unison raid struck his shield. To his surprise, he slid back across the ground a few inches, but the unison raid dispersed before it did any damage.

"Dammit!" Sting growled.

"This is really annoying me…" Luke ignited his fist in fire and lightning, following up with a reckless charge towards Rustyrose.

"And now I present you," Rustyrose started as his right arm turned into the Jet Black Sword he used on Blues. "The ultimate sword which can cut through anything!"

"Luke, don't!" Heather shouted.

But it was too late. Before Luke could swing his fist, Rustyrose raised his hand, and then brought it down on Luke's head, creating a small crater on impact; Luke was down. "Haha!" Rustyrose let out a victorious laugh as he took a few steps forward towards the trio.

"Great, the copy cat is down…" Sting said in an irritated tone.

"What now…?" Rogue asked.

"I'll tell you what," Rustyrose said as his sadistic grin appeared on his face. "I'll dispose of you as I do all trash…" Rustyrose snapped his fingers, causing the ground to shake violently under Sting, Rogue, and Heather's feet. "Tower of Dingir!" Just then, a massive tower rose from the ground, catching the lower bodies of Sting, Rogue, and Heather, dragging them up as the tower reached a good mile into the sky.

"S-Shit!" Sting place his hands on the tower in attempt to free himself, but he found that it was to no avail.

"And now for the grand finale explosion!" Rustyrose shouted as his sadistic grin widened considerably.

"IRON FIST!"

"What…?" Rustyrose turned around, only for his eyes to widen.

"OF THE LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON!" Luke slammed his fist into Rustyrose's jaw, sending Rustyrose tumbling away, and his tower to vanish. The three trapped in the tower fell to the ground, but managed to stick the rough landing; just barely, however. "Oh!" Luke grinned. "You have NO idea how satisfying it is to land a hit on this bastard!"

"I thought you were down!" Rustyrose said in slight annoyance.

"Psh, you have a big imagination if you think that was enough to keep me down, amgio" Luke said with a smirk.

.

.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!" Gajeel swung his arm down towards Kain, but the big male dodged, causing Gajeel not only to miss, but to create a crack in the ground from the impact.

"Talons!" As soon as Kain jumped to avoid Gajeel's attack, Natsu ran forward, aiming his flaming foot towards Kain.

"Self-strengthen, ice!" Kain's held his hand out with Mr. Cursey in his hand, his body temperature lowered considerably as Natsu's attack landed. Though the flames were canceled out by the ice, meaning the kick did next to nothing in terms of damage.

"Gate of the Goat, I open thee! Capricorn!" Lucy held her key out as a golden shimmer appeared from the tip of it. Seconds later, a magic circle appeared and the well-dressed goat spirit, Capricorn appeared.

"I well do my best to help, Lucy-sama," Capricorn said with a bow, then rushed over towards Kain in attempt to assist Natsy and Gajeel in the close combat.

"W-What!? Aren't you!?" Kain started, surprised by Capricorn's appearance in the battle.

"I am not Zoldy!" Capricorn shouted as he landed an elbow to Kain's nose, then a high kick to his face, causing the large male to stumble back. "I am Lucy-sama's humble spirit, Capricorn!"

"He landed hits!" Happy cheered.

"The appearance of an old member must've taken him off guard," Lily replied.

Natsu jumped into the air, forming to orbs of fire in his hands; he then merged these two spheres together, creating a large ball of fire twice the size. "Dazzling Blaze of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu then hurled the sphere towards Kain.

Dadasu Turn!" With his strength increase, Kain kicked the incoming sphere, though it wasn't towards Natsu; as Kain knew the attack wouldn't work too well on him. Instead, he kicked it towards Gajeel, catching the Iron slayer off guard for a few seconds.

"Dammit…!" Gajeel covered up, his iron scales appearing just in time as the Dazzling Blaze struck him, lowering the damage he took.

Kain then turned towards Capricorn, landing a palm strike at the goat's chest, sending him hurtling back a few yards, obviously heavily injured just from the one attack. "C-Capircorn!" Lucy shouted, forcing a gate closure. "Go back, you need to rest!" Kain, with his surprising speed, managed to appear in front of Lucy, causing the celestial blonde to let out a shriek of surprise, which quickly turned into a shout of pain as Kain slammed a powerful palm into her stomach, sending her tumbling away.

"Lucy!" Natsu turned quickly, allowing a red magic circle to form underneath his feet, eventually engulfing his entire body in flames; he then lunged towards Kain. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"

"Hmph…!" Kain raised his palm as Natsu came forward, and brought it down on Natsu's head, slamming the Salamander into the ground with a yelp of pain escaping Natsu's lips; a small crater formed after the impact.

Gajeel then extended his arm, morphing it into an iron pole as it raced towards Kain, but the male shifted his body to the side, avoiding it with ease; he then grabbed the pole, and then lifted Gajeel up, slamming him into the ground after. Gajeel retracted his arm as quickly as he could and groaned slightly. "Dammit…what's with this guy…for being so bulky he's fuckin' hard to hit…"

"You look like you could use some help…" Daryan said as he walked onto the battle field.

"Who are you…?" Natsu asked as he groaned, looking over towards Daryan.

"Daryan Skeletalus, S Class mage of Cosmic Star," Daryan replied. "Now, allow me to show you how a TRUE dragon slayer does things."

.

.

"So, the flame head's dead, eh?" Maggie asked.

"He lost to children," Ruika replied, shaking her head. "I suppose the Omega Fire Dragon is stronger than a Flame God."

"After all that boasting too," Kiora shook her head, chuckling slightly. "Not like it matters to me…he was loud and annoying. "

"Sora liked him!" Sora said cheerfully.

"I also think that the tree hugger is dead…" Ruika started. "Although it's hard to tell, but I think he's most likely dead. That girl is special," Ruika said in reference to Skye. "That's a natural born killer if I've ever seen one….which makes me wonder why she's even in White Eclipse to begin with…" She mumbled that last part as her curiosity started to get the better of her.

"He's dead? Weak…" Maggie just rolled her eyes.

"It's a mystery how…" Kiora sighed somewhat. After a few minutes, the castle began to shake from an unknown pressure of magical energy, and all three girls stood up.

"Bloody hell…?" Maggie asked as she looked around.

"What's going on?" Ruika asked, almost as if she was expecting an answer. Tobias then walked into the room, but before he had the chance to speak, Kiora already went down his throat.

"Tobias, what the hell did you do now!?" Kiora shouted.

"I didn't do anything!" Tobias shouted. "But, I do recommend you come down to the room where we revived Zancrow and Azuma."

"Don't tell us what to do," Kiora replied, slamming Tobias' face into the wall with an innocent grin. "Come, let's go." The girls walked downstairs, and the magical energy they felt was amazing, almost too much to be human.

"Is that Dait…?" Maggie asked quietly.

"Close," Daityas said with a slight smirk. "But far too human, don't you think…Hades?"

And standing next to Daityas was the leader of the infamous Grimoire Heart himself; his arms crossed as with a calm expression on his face. "I've heard what's been happening from your guildmaster…" Hades started slowly, almost as if he forgot what it was like to live after seven long years. "Grimoire Heart has returned, and now two of them are down…Well…now I believe it's about time I had my revenge on Makarov and his brood…"


	21. Chapter 21

"Silver Make: Lance!" A silver magic circle formed in front of Melody, which then fired off multiple silver lances towards Bluenote. Bluenote crossed his arms, taking the lances head on, taking little damage from them since Melody wasn't on a level as high as Kagura, or him. Kagura then jumped from behind Melody with her sheathed blade held high. Bluenote saw this, and he jumped back, out of Kagura's range.

"No ya don't!" Cygnus held his hands out, a gold magic seal appearing in front of him. The seal then released multiple golden waves of gravity that held Bluenote down, keeping him just in range of Kagura's attack. Bluenote managed to manipulate the gravity around his person just enough to lift his arms up, blocking Kagura's downward attack, but the force of it was powerful enough to shatter the ground under him. Both jumped back, but Bluenote had more pressure on him now.

"Silver Make: Pillar!" A silver magic seal appeared just under Bluenote, and he had no time to react to the pillar that subsequently shot him into the air.

"Come on, Stinger!" Cygnus shouted in a somewhat mocking tone, "I thought you were a gravity mage! Not a rag doll!" Cygnus started as his cheeks started to inflate. "Gravity God's…"

"Flash forward…"

"Eh…?" Cygnus was temporarily caught off guard by the faint voice he heard, though the very next thing he knew a ton of spheres slammed into him, causing him to grunt in pain from the surprise attack.

"What the heck?!" Melody turned, only to see the one, the only, Ultear Milkovich. "W-Whoa! Who is that!?"

"Infinite Sphere…" Ultear said quietly, sending her orb into Melody's stomach, and within seconds, numerous copies of the orb flew towards Melody, causing the girl to let out an agonizing yelp of pain; when the assault was over, Melody was in KO.

"Melody…" Kagura cut her eyes to Ultear just as Bluenote landed. Bluenote was less than pleased with Ultear's sudden appearance, to say the least.

"Luminous Minutes…" Ultear produced multiple copies of her orbs in the sky; these copies then charged towards Kagura as beams of light.

"Tch…" Kagura watched as the orbs flew towards her, and she immediately ran forward, moving from side to side as the orbs crashed into the ground, avoiding her completely. Though Bluenote completely blindsided the ace mermaid, landing a punch to the side of her head, sending her tumbling across the ground, but she caught herself before going too far. "This is getting ridiculous…" Kagura said under her breath.

"You're telling me," Cygnus said as he rubbed his head. Cygnus then looked up, noticing Ultear using her Luminous Minutes once again, sending the spheres as light beams towards the two gravity mages. "Oh no you don't!" Cygnus held his hand out, stopping the gravity of the spheres in midair. "You're not all that, Ultear!" Cygnus said with a smirk; though he didn't have much room to talk when Bluenote formed a purple magic circle in front of his hand, sending a forceful push of gravity at Kagura and Cygnus, forcing them to roll across the ground, now taking the full force of the Luminous Minutes from Ultear.

"Flash Forward." Ultear sent her orb once again, copies created from it to represent the different futures of the orb, sending them nonstop to Cygnus and Kagura until they both let out a scream of pain, and a dust cloud formed around them. When the dust cleared, both Cygnus and Kagura were knocked out.

"What was that, Ultear," Bluenote asked in an irritated tone. "They were flying."

"You just looked as though you could use a little help," Ultear replied as her orb floated around her body.

"You don't bear the Grimoire Heart mark anymore," Bluenote said. "I should rid of you right now…but you're in luck…I sense a mage who can really fly nearby…" Without a word, Bluenote turned and walked off, and Ultear did the same, heading in the opposite direction.

.

.

Sting formed condense, holy energy around both of his fists, then charged forward towards Rustyrose with his speed increased from his White Drive. "White Dragon's Punch!"

"Pegasus wings!" Rustyrose snapped his fingers, creating Pegasus wings that formed on his feet, allowing him the speed to avoid Sting's punch, much to the annoyance of the white dragon slayer.

"This guy is REALLY starting to get on my nerves…!" Sting growled, his fangs showing as he did so.

"I can imagine it now…" Rustyrose said with a grin as he stared down the group of four. "Your strongest attacks all merged into one…!" Rustyrose snapped his fingers once again, and in a quick flash of light, a large cannon appeared, aimed towards the group of four. "Reflect on yourselves! Or rather, have your attacks reflected on you!" Rustyrose pulled the string, launching a unison raid identical to the one the four fired at him earlier.

"Oh no ya don't!" Luke hopped forward, snapping his fingers as a gray magic seal appeared. Seconds later, a large mirror appeared in front of the four, successfully reflecting the attack back at Rustyrose, but with his newfound speed, he easily dodged it.

"This is really starting to agitate me…" Heather said as she crossed her arms, sending two fang shaped waves of poison towards Rustyrose. "Poison Dragon's Fang Thrust!"

"You seem to forget who I am and what I do, trash," Rustyrose said as he turned his arm into the golden shield once again, blocking the attack with ease. "You cannot defeat me with your lowly power! I am your end!"

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Rogue unleashed the vortex of shadows, though Rustyrose held his arm out as far as it could, stopping the roar dead in its tracks.

"The ultimate shield cannot be broken!" Rustyrose shouted, starting to become irritated at the group's attempts otherwise.

"Is that so!? Then it would be a shame if you lost that arm!" Luke shouted as he came down with a flaming axe kick, slamming it right on Rustyrose's arm, the weak point to where the shield couldn't reach, snapping it instantly, causing the shield to disperse.

Rustyrose let out a scream of pain from his broken arm, turning to Luke with the darkest glare possible. "AAAGH! YOU INSOLENT LITTLE!"

"White Dragon's Punch!" Sting landed a punch with his left arm to Rustyrose's face.

"Shadow Dragon's Slash!" Rogue followed up with a punch infused with shadow energy, landing a punch with his right fist.

"Poison Dragon's Iron Fist!" Heather swung her fist upward, landing an uppercut on Rustyrose which sent him flying into the air.

"And for the grand finale!" Luke jumped into the air, allowing fire and lightning to surround his body as he dove at Rustyrose. "Lightning Flame Sword Horn!" Luke slammed into Rustyrose's abdomen, forcing Rustyrose to hit the ground, now in KO.

"FINALLY!" Sting let out a sigh of relief. "About damn time…"

"Ugh…imagination's a pain in the ass…" Luke sighed as he took a seat on the grass. "Oi…can we go home now…"

.

.

"This guy's an S class…?" Natsu asked with a confused expression as Daryan was flying around the field due to Kain stealing one of his hairs and placed it on his Mr. Cursey.

"I think his definition of S class is different from ours…" Happy commented.

"Shouldn't we be helping him…?" Lucy asked as Daryan continued to fly around, slamming into the ground occasionally.

"Giehe…this is kinda entertaining though…" Gajeel snickered slightly.

Eventually, Daryan hit the ground, and Kain started to bend the doll backwards, the action mimicking Kain. "This'll teach you not to interrupt a battle…" Kain said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I don't think your spine is supposed to bend that way…" Lucy shouted as Daryan's spine started to bend, almost the point of breaking.

"It's gonna snap!" Natsu shouted. And it was all too late, Daryan's back gave a sickening crack, and all fell silent as the fairy tail group stayed silent.

"AGH!" Daryan eventually hopped up, stretching out a bit. "Thank you! I've had a crick in my back that's been bothering me for EVER!"

"HE'S FINE!?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

"W-what the hell?" Kain's eyes widened slightly. "I snapped your back! You shouldn't even be breathing!"

"Psssh!" Daryan waved a dismissive hand. "You can't break my bones and expect to get very far." Daryan then clapped his hands together, creating a tan magic seal underneath Kain's feet. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Skeletal Dragon's Graveyard!" From the magic circle, spears made of sharp bone shot up repeatedly, striking the off guard Kain directly, KO'ing him within a few seconds.

"W-Whoa…!" Natsu found himself in the same state as the others; surprised, to say the least.

"Amazing, I know," Daryan said with a grin. "Remember the name, Cosmic Star for me, eh?"

"Cosmic Star…?" Lucy asked.

"That's right, sweet thing," Daryan said with a wink towards the celestial blonde.

"Are you hitting on me!?" Lucy asked.

"Maybe…" Daryan replied with shifty eyes. "But, you're so beautiful…how can one not help but notice the beauty that radiates from your person…?"

"I have no idea what he's saying," Happy said with a blank stare.

"I don't think I understand what he's to do…" Lily sighed.

"Can we just go back already?" Gajeel asked, growing impatient.

.

.

"More wounded, eh…?" Zain asked as Takeru, Waiston, Kairi, and Syke limped into the White Eclipse main room.

"You guys won your fights, right?" Kuro asked in a hopeful tone.

"Of course, those guys were nothing!" Waiston said with a grin.

"We got ours," Kairi said with a slight nod.

"So they're almost done, yes?" Tayakata asked.

"I think so…" Skye replied with a nod.

"Luke's team defeated Rustyrose," Calium said with a slight nod. "And it appears someone else has defeated Kain Hikaru…"

"Someone else?" Jaxon asked.

"I don't know who, but as long as he's down," Calium replied. "I'm just glad you brats are alright, now go rest, you're injured."

"Yes, Master," The four wounded members nodded, heading into the infirmary.

"So, what about Reve?" Nami asked, fully recovered from the incident earlier.

"Reve and Zalen should be just fine," Taya nodded. "He is Reve after all."

"It's not as simple as it seems…" Sidney said bluntly, fully aware of Ultear joining the fray.

.

.

"Well, well, well…" Reve smirked slightly as he stared down Ultear. "What do we have here…?"

"Ultear?" Zalen asked.

"Who might you be?" Ultear asked, allowing her time ark to float around her body as he looked down towards Reve and Zalen, quite uninterested in them.

"Reve Volver," Reve said as he took a step forward. "How amazing do you feel to meet the S Class gun requip mage of White Eclipse?"

"White what?" Ultear asked as she raised a brow. "Is that some form of toothpaste or something…?"

"Okay you know what…" Reve started, but then he shook his head, his smirk still on his face. "I'm not surprised to see you around helping your former guild mates. Once a villain, always a villain, it seems. But, let me tell you one thing, Mlikovich. I'll always be better than you."

"Well aren't you a cocky one?" Ultear said as a sadistic grin slowly started to make its way on her lips. She then held her time ark in her hand, showing it towards Reve, completely ignoring Zalen at this point. "A worm like you has no chance against me and my ark of time. With this single sphere I can…"

Before Ultear could finish her sentence, Reve used his quick draw ability to pull out a pistol, and fired a magical bullet at the sphere, instantly shattering it into pieces. Reve then looked at Ultear with a sarcastic frown, though he was smirking widely on the inside. "Whoops…"

"Cute…" Ultear, unfazed by Reve's tactic, merely reversed the time on her sphere, causing it to return to normal as if nothing happened. "But cute'll get you killed, Volver."

"Heh…stand back, Zalen…I'm gonna have to deal this woman how White Eclipse does things…"

.

.

Evanee picked up the scent of someone near the southern edge of Fiore, so that's where she went. She entered a wide, rocky canyon with several cliffs around the edge. She continued to look around, using her sensitive nose to pick up the person's scent. After a few minutes of nothing, she became irritated, and called out to whoever was around. "I know you're here. I can smell you."

A few seconds later, Bluenote walked out from behind a large rock, his arms crossed as he observed Evanee. He seemed fully recovered despite the three vs. one fight he was involved in earlier. Bluenote looked at Evanee quizzically, and asked the usual question. "Can you fly?"


	22. Chapter 22: Reve vs Ultear

Reve swayed his body to the left, narrowly avoiding the incoming time ark, he then lurched forward quickly, aiming two pistols at Ultear, opening fire without hesitation. "You'll hav eto do better than that, Ultear!" Reve shouted.

"I don't think my full power is worth a worm like you…" Ultear replied as a wall of time arks appeared in front of her, effectively shielding her from the onslaught of bullets, though the arks did shatter.

"Oh, you think you're so good, don't you?" Reve smirked slightly as he ran forward, jumping up as he requiped a sawn off shotgun, immediately firing a spread shot of bullets down at Ultear.

"Flash Forward…" Ultear held her sphere forward, allowing multiple copies of it to form before shooting towards Reve. A few of the orbs shattered due to the spread shot, but the rest raced towards Reve.

"What the!?" Though Reve's eyes were excellent in situations like this, his current position was awkward, and awful; stuck in the air. "Shit…!" Reve pointed his pistol forward, and along with his shotgun, he fired off as many rounds as he could to the incoming spheres, managing to knock off a small amount of orbs, but the rest slammed into him; though Reve wasn't one for letting out any indication of pain, so he bit his tongue to prevent a yelp of pain escape his lips as he hit the ground on his back.

"Reve!" Zalen shouted. Zalen wanted to step in, but Reve seemed pretty determined about this.

"That almost hurt," Reve said with a smirk, hopping up as he stared at Ultear, who had her arc floating around her body.

"I can make it hurt if you so wish," Ultear replied, a smirk appearing on her lips as she flung her orb into the air, watching as it multiplied into more spheres, which then raced down towards Reve in beams of light. "Luminous Minutes."

"Heh, that all?" Reve watched the orbs come in carefully, and with his shot gun, he aimed compressed shots, shooting down multiple orbs before they even reached him; much to Ultear's annoyance. Though, the last few spheres managed to cut through Reve's counter attack, but he simple rolled out of the way, allowing the orbs to hit the ground, causing miniature craters a few feet deep. "You're not gonna beat me with that orb alone, and considering that's all you can do, you're outta luck, aren't ya?" Reve smirked, switching his pistol for another shotgun, and a concealed jacket appeared on him, holding two more shot guns if he felt the need to use them.

"I'm still getting back into the swing of things," Ultear replied as the orbs Reve failed to destroy circled around her; five in total. "Flash Forward." Ultear allowed the orbs to float above her before multiplying once again. She then compressed the "futures" of these orbs, then sent them hurtling towards Reve.

"You just don't learn…fine with me!" Reve held his shot guns forward, clicking the trigger as he released a constant flow of magical bullets to match the orbs, but there were too many orbs for Reve to really shoot down, so he knew he had to dodge, and that's just what he did, by rolling hard to the left. But, with this dodge, came an opportunity, as he had a clear shot at Ultear. "Heh, bang…" Reve aimed one of his shotguns forward, and with a simple click of the trigger, fired off a Burst Shot, a compressed bullet.

"Tch…!" Ultear reversed the time on her orb, fixing it, using it just in time for defense as the Burst Shot shattered the bullet.

"Bang," Reve said once again, firing yet another Burst Shot just as Ultear fixed her orb.

Ultear let out a small gasp as she noticed the second bullet coming. She had no time to fix her ark, so she had to dodge. She rolled to the side, but the bullet grazed her shoulder, leaving a noticeable mark as blood started to trail down her shoulder and down her arm. "You…"

"I'm an amazing shot," Reve said with his smirk. "That's what you were going to say, right?"

Ultear's confident expression vanished at Reve's skill, but mostly his arrogance, and the fact he was somewhat able to back it up so far, but Ultear now decided that the warm up was over for her. "Infinite Sphere…" Ultear created only one copy of her orb this time around, and then sent it hurtling at Reve's stomach; too fast for him to react too.

"D-Dammit…" Reve let out a small grunt of pain as the orb hit his stomach, winding him along with hunching him over slightly. He looked up, only to see multiple copies of Ultear's orb now surrounding him. The black haired gunslinger had no time to react to the onslaught of spheres now slamming into him; so it created a large dust cloud.

"Reve…!" Zalen's eyes widened slightly.

As the smoke cloud cleared, Reve was still standing. In fact, he was in a heavily defensive S.W.A.T armor now, having to ditch his jacket for defense. "Heh, you should know an attack like that won't take me down so easily, Zalen," Reve grinned, pointing his shotgun forward once again. "Spread Shot!" Reve clicked the trigger, sending a spread of shotgun bullets towards Ultear.

"Go back to where you came from…" Ultear said as Reve's bullets stopped, then flew back into his gun, just as he clicked the trigger for another shot.

The bullets that went back inside the gun collided with the bullets Reve was ready to fire, causing the shotgun to swell up in size. "That's not good…" Reve said quietly as the shotgun exploded in his hands, resulting in him to dropping it faster than a bad habit. "Think you're clever, huh?" Reve's now free hand gave off a heavenly glow as an assault rifle appeared, and he then started opening fire on Ultear with said gun, unleashing a seemingly endless stream of bullets.

"Your constant talking is annoying me…" Ultear said with an obvious irritation in her voice. She once again created a wall of spheres to protect herself from the onslaught, only this time she sent those all forward as a distraction as she sprinted forward towards Reve, deciding that long range combat was getting stale.

Reve used his active eyes, shooting the orbs coming towards him just fast enough so they wouldn't strike him, though he was slightly surprised by Ultear's sudden charge, just barely managing to evade a punch she threw to his face. "That's how you wanna play right now? Works with me!" Reve threw his guns a few feet behind him, allowing them to touch the ground as he engaged Ultear in close combat. Ultear swung her fist at Reve's jaw, but he took a step back, narrowly avoiding it. He then threw his own fist towards Ultear, but she blocked it with her arm, and landed a knee on Reve's gut, causing the gunslinger to bend over slightly. Ultear then landed yet another punch on Reve's jaw, causing him to stumble back slightly.

"Is something wrong?" Ultear asked in a mocking tone as she continued her offensive assault.

"Not at all…" Reve took one step back, his foot landing on his shotgun; just like he planned. He clicked the trigger as he did so, quickly channeling his magic energy into the shotgun, firing off a Burst Shot from the shotgun, sending the bullet right into Ultear's gut, but it wasn't enough to run through her body, since Reve had to act quick enough to get the attack to work.

Ultear let out a quiet hiss of pain, as the bullet nearly ran through her body, but she fought through the pain as she held her hand out, gathering an intense amount of magical energy into her palm, creating a magical sword, much to Reve and Zalen's surprise. "I'll skewer you!" Ultear shouted as she swung her sword toward Reve in somewhat of a rage, but at the same time her strikes were very well coordinated.

"Is that a sword…!?" Reve wasn't aware that Ultear could use more than just her time ark, so the first slash nearly landed across his chest, but he swayed to the left just in time for it to graze his body, creating a cut, but nothing too serious. Reve continued on the defensive, swaying his body from left to right as Ultear continued to slash; his eyes allowing him to see the slashes coming in slow motion…until Ultear caught him off guard with a quick knee to his chin, then landed a slash across his chest, but nothing deep thanks to his SWAT armor. "Dammit…" Reve growled slightly as he rolled back, picking his guns up as he did so, switching his shotgun for another assault rifle, now firing blindly at Ultear due to the current situation.

"Tch…!" Ultear held her sword diagonally, using it to block most of the shots Reve fired. Some shots, however, grazed her arms, legs, and sides. After Reve stopped firing, Ultear put her guard down; but it was a trap. As soon as she did so, Reve fired a bullet into her leg, causing her to yelp out in pain as she fell to a knee. Reve then rushed it, landing a moderately powered roundhouse to her head, sending the time ark mage rolling across the ground before coming to a stop on her back, though she didn't have much time to move as Reve stood above her, his arm extended as he pointed his assault rifle to her head.

"Too easy…" Reve said as he clicked the trigger. Though, right before he clicked the trigger, Ultear moved quickly, wrapping her legs around Reve's leg, and flipped him over onto his back. "Gah!"

Ultear hopped up, now using her time ark once again as she created multiple copies of her orb floating above Reve. "Luminous Minutes!" The orbs then traveled towards Reve as light beams.

Though Reve was slightly dazed from Ultear's surprise counter, he snapped into focus quick enough to aim his assault rifles at the incoming orbs, spraying bullets in hopes of taking out the arks of time. It was a mostly successful plan, though three arks managed to slip through and strike Reve, causing an explosion, which wore down his SWAT armor significantly, its defensive properties practically vanished. "This song and dance is getting quite old, don't you think?" Reve slowly stood up as he stared down Ultear, who was just a few feet away from him. "How about we try something new now?"

"If you wish…" Ultear smirked, and then placed her fist into the palm of her hand as a chilling wind surrounded her body. "Ice Make…" She mumbled quietly.

"That pose…!" Zalen started.

"You've gotta be joking!" Reve started as he held up his assault rifles, but he was all but early.

With a smirk at her opponent's surprise, she then shouted, "Rosen Krone!" and created giant roses and spiked branches made from a light purple ice that struck Reve directly, sending him tumbling across the ground for a few seconds before hopping up.

"You're just full of surprises lately, aren't ya?" Reve then took aim with Ultear in his sights, and opened fired, sending a stream of bullets towards Ultear.

"Ice Make: Dahlias!" Ultear held her hands out a giant Dahila flower made of ice protected her from the onslaught of bullets, which caused Reve to become slightly annoyed.

"A shield too? What else do you have!?" Reve asked the rhetorical question, not expecting the answer Ultear was about to give.

"Ice Make: Bloon!" The shield dispersed and from its remains came several blocks of ice, all of which blooming outward towards Reve.

"Dammit I wasn't serious…" Reve held his assault rifles out once more; unleashing bullets on the blooms, destroying them before they got close, but then Ultear sent her orb just as Reve thought he was in the clear. The orb slammed against Reve's face, sending him stumbling to the side a little bit. "Hold still…" Reve said irritated as the orb played hit and run with Reve. Every time Reve turned the orb struck him, and fled quickly, not giving Reve any time to react to its next hit. This continued for a few minutes before Ultear grew tired of this game, sending the orb into Reve's stomach once more. "Infinite Sphere."

It turns out, Reve actually caught the sphere in his hands just before it struck him, and he threw the sphere to the side as Ultear created its copies. "You know, you aren't the only one who can do that," Reve said with a smirk as he held his arms out, creating a multitude of guns around the orbs and Ultear. "Devil's Wheel!" The guns fired immediately, most colliding with the orbs Ultear created, and a few with Ultear herself. It was clear the bullets struck her as she let out a yelp of pain, though some of her orbs managed to escape the Devil's Wheel and strike Reve, sending him skidding back across the ground, now about a yard away from the time mage.

"I'm growing tired of you…" Ultear said calmly with her orb floating around her once more.

"Oh?" Reve placed his hands together, a heavenly light appearing in the empty space. When the light faded, he was shown holding his six chambered magnum. "How about we end this then?"

"With that tiny gun?" Ultear asked, almost mockingly.

"You know what they say…the smaller the gun, the bigger then bang," Reve then clicked the trigger, sending a bullet about half the size of the battle field towards Ultear, which obviously caught her off guard, as she wasn't expecting such a large blast to come out of such a tiny gun. "One…"

"What the…!?" Ultear held her orb with both hands, allowing the orb to take the bullet. Ultear held her ground for about ten seconds, then the orb shatter, but Ultear was unharmed.

"What the hell!?" Reve was obviously surprised; he didn't expect Ultear's orb to be so defensive. "I still got five more, Milkovich!" Reve took aim once again, clicking the trigger as he sent another large bullet racing towards Ultear.

Ultear sprinted forward; it seemed like a stupid thing to do since her sword was in the opposite direction in which she was running, but she had a purpose. A tiny magic circle appeared as she reversed the time of Reve's bullet, sending it back towards Reve, aiming to destroy his magnum with that very bullet. "I wonder how you'll take this!" Ultear shouted as a sadistic grin appeared on her face.

"Shit…!" Reve wasn't one to fall for the same trick twice, so he let his magnum fade into the Spirit World quickly, resolving the problem of Ultear attempting to destroy it. But the real problem was that the bullet was still approaching, and he had little time to dodge such a blast, but he tried away. Reve was still knocked away by the explosive power of his own shot, tumbling across the ground with a bruised and somewhat bleeding body, but he smirked as his magnum appeared in his hand once again. "Heh…I didn't know I was that strong…that was two…so here's three!" Reve clicked the trigger once again, smirking as Ultear continued her charge.

"You don't seem to learn, do you?" Ultear attempted the same trick once again, but something was different about this shot. When she looked, she noticed it. Reve held his magnum just behind his bleeding arm when he shot; catching some of his bblood to mix with the bullet, meaning it was out of Ultear's jurisdiction to reverse its time. The bullet collided with Ultear, causing a large explosion, which resulted in her tumbling back across the ground with a torn outfit, a heavily bruised and bleeding body, yet she slowly stood up, almost falling over as she did so.

"Still won't stay down…?" Reve grit his teeth slightly, knowing he only had three shots before he ran out of magic, but he also knew that Ultear was at the end of her rope, and it would only take one more shot. "Time to make this count…" Reve jumped into the air, allowing himself to descend slightly before clicking the trigger, sending the fourth bullet towards Ultear.

"It's a shame those last shots will go to waste…" Ultear shouted as she held her orb out once again, allowing it to absorb the full power of the magnum shot before shattering into pieces yet again.

Reve really started to get annoyed now, with only two shots left, and Ultear's way of protecting herself, how was he gonna end this?! Then it hit him. "Heh…" Reve fired the fifth shot, feeling the magic draining from his body as he only had one left.

"You don't learn…" Instead of using her arc, Ultear shifted her body weight to the side, completely avoiding the shot with little effort; but it's what happened next that surprised her. Reve ran behind his bullet, and his magnum was now pointed at Ultear's face; point blank range.

"Bang…" Reve clicked the trigger just as Ultear shifted her body, only half of it caught in the powerful blast, the resulting explosion sending her back into a tree, her entire left side bleeding and limp. Reve, too, was caught in the explosion, but he didn't have it as bad as Ultear, since she was the victim, but he flew back into a tree as well, sitting there with no magical energy. "Heh…"

Ultear stood up slowly, quickly realizing she couldn't feel half of her body. She then looked at Reve, suddenly remembering Zalen was watching the fight, proving her chances of winning the fight were severely low in her current condition. She then remembered Jikan's words, which left only one option for her. With the largest scowl humanly possible, she decided to retreat, so she wouldn't have to face Jikan's anger, though losing would provide some form of punishment.

"Reve!" Zalen ran over to Reve, looking over to where Ultear ran off. "She's getting away…"

"Let her go…" Reve said with a smirk. "She's not a problem anymore, and she knew she couldn't win."

"So…does that mean…?" Zalen started.

"That's right; I beat Ultear Milkovich…" Reve gave a victorious laugh, but stopped due to the pain shooting through his body, causing him to wince. He didn't want to admit it, but had Ultear done things a bit differently, that battle might've been hers. "I think we're done here…let's go back home…"

.

.

Hades barged into the Fairy Tail guild; his appearance caused the faces of everyone inside to pale from fear, but Markarov, Laxus, and Erza stood with a surprised stare, which quickly turned into a glare. "What are you doing here?" Makarov asked in a borderline evil tone.

"Your brood defeated me due to a series of coincidences; those same coincidences won't happen twice," Hades replied with a sinister look.


	23. Chapter 23: Evanee vs Bluenote

The canyon shook violent from Evanee and Bluenote's battle. Evanee allowed stones to cover her fist as she charged at Bluenote, pulling her stone encased fist back throwing it towards Bluenote's chest. Bluenote, however, easily blocked such a hit by throwing up his forearm, and manipulated the gravity around Evanee's fist to be much lighter, thus reducing its weight, therefore making the damage from the hit next to nothing, which is something that annoyed Evanee slightly. Bluenote then reared his fist back, slamming it with increased gravity into her stomach, causing the ace of Twilight Zone to cough slightly from the brutal hit. Bluenote then followed up by opening that same hand, creating a purple magic seal and used the force of gravity to push Evanee into a rocky pillar, which caused the pillar to collapse on her shortly after. "I know you can fly," Bluenote said while crossing his arms. "I can feel it."

Evanee wasn't one for small talk, especially during battles. She removed the rocky rubble from around her, practically unscathed by it as well, something that brought a grin to Bluenote's face. "Stone Drive…" A copper aura surrounded Evanee's body as she looked towards Bluenote, rolling her arms to get the stiffness out of them.

"Excellent…" Bluenote nodded in approval, knowing that Evanee was in fact going to give him quite the match. "I've had three battles today; I wonder if this will be my last one…" Without a word, Evanee sprinted forward, her speed and power increased tenfold; though Bluenote didn't seem too surprised by this. "In order to fly…one must fall…" Bluenote held his arms out as a purple magic seal appeared above Evanee, quickly forcing her onto her knees from the gravity. The sudden change in gravity caused Evanee to grit her teeth slightly, but she eventually stood up, overpowering the gravity with her own sheer force.

"Dragon's Cyclone," Evanee slammed her palms onto the exposed earth, causing a swirling vortex of sand and debris to form around Bluenote, strong enough to tear his flesh off. However, the mini raging sandstorm only lasted for a few seconds as Bluenote used his gravity to push the sandstorm outward and away from him, much to Evanee's annoyance. Bluenote lifted his hands, using his gravity to remove a large chunk of rock from a nearby wall, then without delay, hurled it towards Evanee; increasing its gravity so it's momentum would mix with its weight and crush her. Evanee kept an eye on the incoming piece of stone, morphing her arm into a stone blade as it came forward, and with a simple vertical slash, she cut through the rock before it could touch her.

"Impressive," Bluenote said as he kept his arms extended, this time floating on top of a large chunk of rock while several other large rocks and rock pillars circled around him. "I wonder how you can handle this!" Bluenote threw his arms forward, sending the large rocks and pillars forward.

"Your constant chattering is annoying…" Evanee replied as she eyed the debris coming her way. She ran forward, using her impressing leg strength to leap into the air, onto the large rock coming her way. She then dashed across the rock, leaping off of it just as it crashed into the rock wall below, and she landed on the next object; the pillar. Evanee continued hopping from object to object, her agility surprising Bluenote slightly. Evanee then jumped from the last rock, her cheeks puffed out as a copper magic seal appeared in front of her. "Stone Dragon's Roar!" Evanee then opened her mouth, unleashing a vortex of stones towards Bluenote without delay.

Bluenote let out a quick grunt of surprise, but he quickly use his gravity, manipulating Evanee's roar. Though she was too close for him to redirect the roar somewhere else, he managed to compress the roar, making it much weaker when it struck him. The roar only managed to slide Bluenote back a few inches, but with a smirk, he formed yet another purple magic seal just in front of him; his reaction time surprising the stone dragon slayer as she flew down into the ground from the force of gravity, but she caught herself and landed on her feet, just barely, however. "Heh!" Bluenote then jumped from the platform he was standing on, increasing its gravity tenfold, allowing it to crash into Evanee, creating a large cloud of dust from impact.

Evanee shook of the impact of the extremely heavy rock, feeling slightly damaged now, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. With a dash forward towards the falling Bluenote, she then jumped up, shifting her body, to where she was upside down, throwing a bicycle kick at Bluenote's head, the force sending him into the ground, creating a small crater on impact. Evanee then followed up by molding her hands into stones, thrusting them forward immediately, which resulted in the fire of stalactite sediment spears hurling towards Bluenote. "Stalactite Spears!"

After hitting the ground, Bluenote quickly stood up, smirking slightly as he watched the incoming stone spears raced towards him, though he was unfazed in the slightest; by holding his hand out, creating a purple magic seal in front of him. "Gravity Grasp." Bluenote then clenched his hand, intensifying the gravity around the spears, crushing them before they got too close to him.

Evanee was pretty sure she never hated gravity as much as she did right now, but despite this; she decided to use her quick footwork to her advantage, running up the rocky wall and across it, looking towards Bluenote as she began to formulate a strategy. "Hn…" Evanee was unsure how she wanted to go about this, since Bluenote's gravity was both strong offensive and defensive. She could handle the offensive properties of Bluenote' magic, but the defensive properties were the main problem.

"Running away, are we? Come now, fly with me," Bluenote held his hand out as multiple purple magic circles formed on the wall Evanee was running on in a line. "Gravity Crush!" The magic circles then unleashed a torrential force of gravity, causing the rocky canyon wall to cave it, eventually exploding from the force, which sent Evanee into the air as a result. "

"I hate gravity…" Evanee mumbled as she flipped her body, regaining her balance as she then lunged towards Bluenote, as stones covered her arms. "Stone Dragon's Fist!"

"Heh…" Bluenote reared his fist back, and then jumped into the air, throwing his fist forward just as Evanee did so, their fists colliding in the middle; the power between the two aces' creating a powerful shockwave that boomed throughout the area, creating a harsh wind as result, along with a mini tremor that shook the entirety of the canyon. Eventually, the two jumped back, creating a several yard distance between each other

Evanee thrust her hands forward, creating multiple copper magic seals that floated in the air. "Rock Shower!" From the magic seal, boulders, stones, and miniscule rocks shot out, raining down towards Bluenote in a thick shower.

"Allow me to show you…" Bluentoe started as he held his hand up, gazing at the incoming Rock Shower. A purple magic seal appeared on his hand, thus stopping the gravity of the rocks as they stayed suspended in midair. "The true power of gravity!" Bluenote then threw his head forward, sending the Rock Shower towards Evanee in a diagonal motion.

Evanee growled lowly; she HATED when her own attacks were used against her, but she had a counter for this one. Evanee quickly formed a copper seal in front of her, causing the ground to shake as large stones of varying sizes rose into the air; Evanee then hurled the stones forward to counter her Rock Shower that Bluenote sent back at her. "Sandstorm!" The Sandstorm counter attack managed to knock off about half of the Rock Shower, but the other half struck Evanee, forcing the stone dragon slayer to slide back across the ground, though she had a slight smirk on her face. "Earth Burial." Evanee whispered those two words quietly, and a copper magic seal formed underneath Bluenote, conjuring up a dense multitude of boulders to encase him, resulting in a high scale explosion, which also shook the tower slightly, creating a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Bluenote was now bruised and scratched, but he didn't seem too damaged by it. "What?"

"You must not understand how gravity works…in order to fly…" Bluenote took a step forward, decreasing the gravity around him to make himself lighter, now appearing in a flash in front of Evanee with a clenched fist. "You must understand the depths of gravity," Bluenote then threw his fist at Evanee's face, landing a hit on her left cheek.

"You need to stop talking," Evanee replied in an irritated stone after taking the hit, allowing stones to cover both of her arms as she engaged Bluenote in close combat. Bluenote had the upper hand during this close combat, as he was in fact, a master of such a skill, though Evanee made up for the gap with her Stone Drive, which mentioned before, increased her stats, allowing her to keep up with Bluenote easier than most. Bluenote threw a punch to Evanee's face once again, but Evanee swayed her upper body to the side, narrowly avoiding the powerful punch. Evanee then reared her fist back, landing a hit on Bluenote's chest, following it up with a roundhouse to his face, sending Bluenote staggering back slightly. "Stone Dragon's…" Evanee jumped into the air, allowing stones to cover her feet as she came in, swinging her feet in an axe kick formation. "Talons!"

Bluenote held his arms up, blocking Evanee's technique with relative ease, but he noticed the ground cratering between him about sixteen inches, so he used his brute strength to push Evanee away, quite pleased with the current look of this battle. "I haven't had a battle like this since Clive…" Bluenote then decided to drop the bomb on Evanee as he smirked. "But…you are no Clive…"

"I don't know who this Clive you're talking about is…" Evanee said as she glared up at Bluenote, her black hair creating a shade over her eyes, which now appeared to be a blazing red from the shadow of them. "And frankly, I don't care. Your guild has done harm to mine, and I will not allow it to continue any farther."

"Which is why I ask…can you fly?" Bluenote the formed to orbs of visible, purple gravity in his hands, and then merged them together, creating a dense sphere in his left hand. "Gravity Bomb." Bluenote rushed forward, but before he got in too close, he threw the bomb at Evanee, which exploded before it actually hit it. The orb wasn't meant for damage, but it increased the gravity around Evanee tremendously, bringing the Twilight Zone ace to her knees, struggling to stand for a few seconds. But, before she could get her bearings straight, Bluenote took advantage of this and threw his knee up, slamming it into Evanee's face, though she couldn't, and didn't move from the force of the knee due to the gravity weighing her down. It was a struggle alright, and Bluenote piled on the pressure by throwing punches and kicks at the current defenseless Evanee.

This assault continued for a few minutes before Evanee grabbed Bluenote's incoming kick, much to his surprise at that and then puffed her cheeks out. "Stone Dragon's Roar!" Evanee opened her mouth, unleashing a tornado of sharp stones at Bluenote, shredding through his skin as the force sent him back, rolling across the ground for a few seconds before he caught himself. Evanee then stood up, shaking off the impact of the assault, acting as though it never happened. And with her extreme durability, she only took less than average damage.

Bluenote recovered from the surprise roar quickly easily, ignoring any pain he felt. Bluenote then held his arms out as a purple magic seal appeared on Evanee, lifting her into the air as a result as the gravity around her person started to intensify. "Gravity Grasp!" The gravity constricted the female dragon slayer, keeping her from moving until the force eventually imploded, causing an exterior explosion which sent Evanee into a rock wall. Bluenote knew Evanee wasn't finished, but he didn't predict the ground under his person to cave in, collapsing inward as he fell into the ditch. While in the ditch, Bluenote noticed the walls began to crack, and the inside shined with magic that expanded for a few seconds, eventually creating an explosion in the process, which sent Bluenote flying up into the air as a result.

"Eruption…" Evanee said with a smirk as she looked towards the airborne Bluenote. She had no intentions of letting the Grimoire Heart Ace rest, so her next move involved a part of the ground to liquefy, then shot this liquefied earth upwards, wrapping it around Bluenote, immobilizing him just as he did to her earlier. "Liquid Tower!" Evanee had two options at this point with the capture a success. She could either fling Bluenote away, or slam him into the ground. She went with the former, and brought the earth tendril down, slamming Bluenote into the ground as a result.

Bluenote hit the ground, and the tendril faded. This meant nothing as he formed a magic circle in front of Evanee, using a heavy amount of gravity to push her away, but she held her ground and slid across the broken earth. "I am impressed by your power," Bluenote said, handing out tiny praise to Evanee.

Evanee ignored this comment, and merely raised her arm as stones started to cover it. "Secret Dragon Slayer Art! Earth Tower!" Evanee then slammed her fist into the ground, sending stalagmites traveling towards Bluenote in a zig zag patter. But before they actually reached him, and then circled around him, and the ground began to shake violently, and within seconds, a large stalagmite shot from the ground, catching Bluenote within it as it rose at least a mile into the orange painted sky. The tower then exploded violently, shaking everything within a two mile radius. Bluenote fell to the ground, quite damaged from the hit.

Now growing annoyed, Bluenote decided it was time for this battle to end. With a sadistic smirk, Bluenote extended his arms forward and closed his palms together. This prompted a dark orb to appear in front of him, which created a gravitational field around itself, which steadily grew larger and larger, growing stronger and stronger as a result. This orb held an immense force of attraction, easily sucking in everything within its immediate area. "Blackhole…a point of infinite gravity that will suck up everything…"

Evanee's eyes widened from the strength she felt the Black hole emitting; it was nothing like she'd ever felt before, and she could feel herself sliding forward due to the attraction of the Black hole. "W-What is that…?"

"As I said before…" Bluenote started with a smirk as he let the orb run its course, picking up a harsh wind as large pieces from the canyon flew into the hole, making it even larger as a result, the wind now blowing violently as dark clouds started to roll it. "You are no Clive…there is no way you can counter this." For a moment, it seemed as though Bluenote was right. Even with her speed, Evanee was unable to escape the invisible grasp the Black hole seemed to have on her, and she slid towards it faster and faster. But, in an act of desperation, she placed her hands out, expelling magic from her hands to create a thin barrier that separated her from the Black hole. "You can try…but in the end, you will fall…"

Evanee clenched her teeth; she didn't know what she was doing, to be honest with herself. She was trying to stop herself from falling into the depths of darkness, but in the back of her mind, she pondered the thought of forcing the Black hole to explode from the inside out. "How can I do this…?" She thought to herself as the force of the black continued to grow stronger. She then knew what she had to do. Earth-like scales began to cover the sides of Evanee's face, her exposed sides, her arms, and her legs. She entered the state of Dragon Force; which meant this was about as serious as she could get. She then puffed her cheeks out, infusing some of the darkness magic she learned from Caelestis, the master of Twilight Zone, with her stone dragon slayer magic. "Roar…Of the Darkness Stone Dragon!" Evanee opened her mouth, unleashing a black vortex of sharp stones into the Black hole. This plan quickly seemed like the wrong idea as the black hole just grew in size, but a few seconds later, the magical energy within the black hole became too much, and it exploded, rather harmlessly at that.

Bluenote stared in surprise; he had no response for Evanee's action. "W-what…but that's impossible…!"

"You like to fly?" Evanee asked in a somewhat dark tone as she eyed Bluenote. "In order to fly…" Evanee clenched her fist, magic energy radiating from her body as the remains of the canyon began to shake violently. She was ready to end this, and she sprinted forward at a speed Bluenote couldn't even comprehend. "You must fall…" Evanee then reared her fist back, slamming it into Bluenote's chin. Just like his battle with Gildarts, Bluenote soared high into the sky, possibly even higher than Gildarts sent him. A few minutes passed, and he landed on the ground, a decently sized explosion occurring from his impact, and a large crater formed as well. The Ace of Grimoire Heart was defeated.

.

.

"Today was certainly a rush…" Lucy said with a slight laugh as she, Natsu, Gajeel, Happy, and Pantherlily walked into Magnolia town, heading for Fairy Tail without delay.

"I'm gonna eat then sleep for a week!" Natsu nodded, quite happily at that.

"Hey guysssss!" Cynthia shouted as she, Wendy, walked towards the group along with an injured Gray and Juvia.

"Whoa, are you guys alright?" Lucy asked.

"We had a tough run in…" Gray replied as he had his arm around Juvia to support her, and of course, Juvia had no objections to this motion at all.

"I think they're all down!" Wendy nodded.

"Giehe, didn't take too long either," Gajeel said with a slight smirk.

"Alright, let's report to Gramps!" Natsu nodded, leading the way to the Fairy Tail building. When they arrived, everyone stopped…the building as in shambles, and everyone inside was injured. This sight immediately caused Natsu's body to flare up as he looked around for who did it.


	24. Chapter 24

"Worthless, the lot of them," Ruika said with a sigh as she shook her head.

"What happened?" Rugal asked as he took a puff from his cigarette.

"Grimoire Heart is all but defeated. Even their might "ace" has gone down, to someone from a no name guild anyway," Ruika replied. "Their failure doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Reviving them was a complete waste of time."

"Didn't think it was possible to fuck up more than Tobias…" Kiora said in a sarcastically amazed voice.

"Gee, thanks…" Tobias sighed slightly, knowing he would never get used to the abuse he receives daily.

"Actually, things are playing out quite nicely," Daityas said with a slight, devious smirk.

"Eh?" Maggie crossed her arms, looking over at Daityas with a quizzical expression. "Their failure is good?"

"Let's not look at their failure," Daityas replied. "I'll be sure to handle that later."

"Sora doesn't understand…" The pinkette tilted her head in confusion.

"Ah…I'll explain when the time is right…" Daityas nodded.

"So…where'd the old nutter go?" Maggie asked as she looked around. "He mumbled somethin' about revenge then took off…"

"He went to pay his old guild a visit, from what I heard," Daityas replied, a slight smirk appearing on his face.

.

.

"W-What on earth happened here?!" Cynthia slid over to Asuka, Alzack, and Bisca, all heavily injured. Cynthia scooped Asuka in her arms, feeling an older sister impulse to protect the little girl taking over her body. "A-Asuka…."

"Who did this…!?" Lucy looked around; unsure on whom she wanted to help first. Everyone, including the three S class mages, and Makarov were all injured.

Wendy immediately ran over to Carla, who was stayed at the guild, and placed her hands over her faithful Exceed, her palms emitting a sea-green light as she healed Carla to the best of her ability. "Everyone's so injured…"

"Erza! Mira! Laxus! Gramps!" Natsu ran over to the four his voice filled with worry, but his expression threatening, especially towards who it was who did this. "What happened!?"

"He's back…N-Natsu…" Erza said somewhat weakly.

"Who's ba-…" Natsu started, but he answered his own question when he got a vaguely familiar scent enter his nostrils, but he immediately recognized it. "Hades…"

{Flash back}

"What are you doing here?" Makarov asked, hopping from the bar counted and over to Hades, a dark glare on his face. "Your troop has fallen again, "Hades"," Makarov started. "You have no business here."

"Fairy Tail defeated Grimoire Heart due to a series of unforeseen circumstances…" Hades started as he stared down at Makarov. "And listen here, boy…I am here to ensure that such coincidences don't happen again."

"Are you threatening my children?" Makarov asked he started to release his magical pressure.

"Boy, you know I don't do threats. I give promises…" Hades uncrossed his arms, and without another word, threw his hands forward, creating a white chain of magic that latched onto Makarov. Before Makarov had a chance to respond, he found that he was slammed into the wall by Hades. This prompted the other members to jump in immediately.

"Master!" Bisca and Alzack were the first ones to jump in, after making sure Asuka ran off to a safe place, they pulled out their celestial pistols, and began to open fire on Hades.

"I dance with magic, fools," Hades pointed his hands forward in the shape of pistols, and then started to fire purple bullets of magic, essentially spraying bullets everywhere without much magic consumption as the bullets struck everyone, sending them all back.

After getting with more than enough bullets, Laxus made a charge by morphing into a bolt of lightning, then traveled towards Hades within seconds, landing a roaring electric uppercut to Hades' chin, sending Hades stumbling back, but it was the force that did so. Hades himself really wasn't damaged by the attack. "You wanna go again, old man?" Laxus said in a low, threatening tone as electricity started to dance wildly around his body.

"Kanso!" A heavenly light surrounded Erza's body as she requipped into her simplest armor; the cloth around her chest, the pants, and only two swords in her arms. As she did this, Mirajane changed into her second strongest demon takeover; Halphas with Makarov in the front.

"Leave, now," Makarov said in a low, threatening tone as Hades merely stood there with a smirk.

Hades had no response. Instead, he made a few hand motions, creating an Amaterasu formation around the four wizards. "You seem to forget…"

"Move!" Laxus shouted, but the formation already activated, and a black and sphere coated the four wizards, though Laxus managed to escape by turning into a ball of lightning. It was the same formula as last time; the one that drained people of magic and took away all power in their limbs. It was successful, because as soon as the smoke cleared, the three wizards were down, and as soon as Laxus landed, he fell to a knee, and then collapsed. The rest…well, that can be seen by the current state of Fairy Tail.

{End flashback}

Hours later, everyone seemed to be fine, but the group who only returned was still seething. "Who is Hades?" Cynthia asked as she glanced around at all the members, feeling glad they weren't killed.

"The master of Grimoire Heart," Makarov replied solemnly, feeling like a failure due to being unable to protect his children from Hades' assault. "He was also Fairy Tail's second guild master in the past…"

"T-The second guild master!?" Cynthia's eyes widened slightly. "Then that means…"

"I passed my will to him…" Mavis said sadly.

"F-First Master!?" Laxus, along with the others, said in surprise.

"D-Did you know…?" Cynthia started as she stared at Mavis.

"I didn't think he would fall into the darkness…this situation is all my fault…" Mavis started before turning her back, attempting to hide her tears.

"L-Laxus! Do something!" Makarov flailed.

"Do what, old man!?" Laxus replied as Mavis started to cry.

"I didn't mean to make her cry!" Cynthia flailed in a classic anime fashion until Mavis eventually calmed down.

"He wants another ass beating, huh?" Natsu crossed his arms, looking towards the front doors. "I'll be more than happy to remind him how Fairy Tail does things."

"Natsu…" Erza sat up slowly, but she found she couldn't stand, so she sat back down.

"He's dangerous, Natsu…" Makarov said.

"He's not going alone," Gray started.

"Yeah, we're coming with you, Natsu-san!" Wendy nodded.

"If Gray-sama goes, Juvia does too!" Juvia replied.

"You're not keeping me out of the action this time," Gajeel said with a stern nod.

"I'm going too!" Lucy shouted.

"And me!" Cynthia nodded. "If Wendy goes, I go, so let's go!"

"Do you even know where he is…?" Carla asked.

"UH…" Lucy stopped to think.

"I can smell him," Natsu replied, sprinting out the front doors immediately.

.

.

"You look like you've taken a beating, gunslinger," Taya said with a teasing smirk as she bandaged Reve up.

"Ultear was a little harder than I expected, but she still wasn't a problem, right, Zalen?" Reve said.

"Oh yeah…you did great, Reve!" Zalen nodded a few times.

"Count yourself lucky," Cygnus said with a scoffed, also bandaged up along with Reve, Waiston, Takeru, Kairi, Skye, Selene, and Aira. "You didn't get ambushed…"

"Ah, you'll get Bluenote next time!" Nami said cheerfully.

"Yeah…" Cygnus nodded slowly. "By the way…where's Heather and Luke? Are they still out?"

"They've been gone for a while…" Selene said quietly. "You don't think they lost, do you?"

"Of course not," Reve replied with a scoff. "They're White Eclipse. I bet they're just taking their sweet time coming back…heheh…"

Takeru was half listening to the conversation at hand, but then his eyes narrowed as he gazed at the front door. "You feel that…?"

"Magic energy…higher than anything I've ever felt before…" Kairi said in almost an eerie tone. "I don't like it…"

"White Eclipse…hm…" Hades stood just outside the White Eclipse guild, looking the building over. "This is the guild that's bested Fairy Tail? Doesn't look like much."

"I recommend you keep your comments about your guild to yourself, human," Adamantine said as he walked forward.

"And you are?" Hades asked in a demanding tone.

"Adamantine," Adam replied as he cut his eyes towards Hades. "And unless you're willing to become my next snack, I recommend you leave."

"Ah…so you are also…" Hades started. "In that case…I might as well get you while you're like this…" Hades then made multiple hand motions, forming an Amaterasu seal around Adam. "I know you dragons are immune to this in your normal forms, but in your human forms…"

"What!?" Adam looked around him, but by the time he realized what was happening, the seal exploded, draining all the power from his limbs and vaporized his magic power Adam fell to his knees, panting heavily. "…How did you…" Hades kept silent, but a sadistic smirk formed on his lips as he pointed his hand out in the shape of a gun, charging a large purple magic sphere on the tip of his fingers. He then unleashed the giant sphere, watching as it collided with Adam; the force shooting him through the guild, catching everyone by surprise.

"Adam!?" Kuro shouted.

"What the hell!?" Michio turned, spotting Hades in the open doorway.

"Who is that…?!" Nami asked.

"Doesn't matter who he is now," Kuro said as his joyous expression turned into a menacing one. "He just attacked out family! That was his first mistake! Fire Make: Hermes!" Kuro clapped his hands together, creating a red magic seal which created wings on his feet. He then lunged towards Hades, rearing his fist back, throwing it when he got close.

"Reckless, just like Makarov and his brood…" Hades sighed slightly, unfazed with Kuro's speed. When Kuro threw his punch, Hades leaned his body to the side, avoiding it. Hades then brought his leg forward, using the momentum of his dodge to slam it into Kuro's gut, sending Kuro flying through a wall.

"Kuro!" Nami shouted as Kuro flew through the wall.

"Someone has to protect the wounded!" Zain shouted.

"I ain't wounded, fuck that…" Reve stepped forward, eying Hades from across the room. "Alright, you don't wanna piss of the rest of this guild, or the old; so I'll make this quick…" Since it had been a few hours, Reve regained enough magic to bring out his magnum, but it only had one shot. One shot was all he needed, because he was Reve. "Bang." Reve clicked the trigger, sending the large bullet hurtling down the main area of White Eclipse and towards Hades.

"The master…ah…" Hades stood calmly as the bullet raced for him and he merely stuck his hand out, creating a purple barrier in front of him as the bullet collided with it. Hades then absorbed the bullet, turning it into a large sphere of darkness magic, and sent it back towards Reve, though the radius of the circle caught a few members as well, which resulted in an explosion that destroyed half the guild. "This is what gave Fairy Tail so much trouble…?"

"I'll show you trouble!" Michio created another illusion of himself, charging Hades immediately. Hades was unamused and creating two chains with grappling hooks in hand, wrapping them around both Michios and swung then around wildly, before releasing them.

"This isn't good…" Taya mumbled as a dark vector appeared which subsequently attempted to land a punch on the seemingly invincible Hades. But, Taya's attack failed as Hades merely dodged it, firing off an Explosive and Piercing Shot at Taya and Nami. "Shit…!" A black dome appeared over Taya and Nami to protect them, but the bullet pierced right through, and exploded, sending the two sisters flying back.

"I'll just have a word with your master…" Hades started as he walked inside the guild, but before he could get too far, Sidney kicked him in the face, sending him staggering back outside. "Hm?"

"Someone without a guild mark walking in here and destroying the place. The only person who gets more pissed off than me when this happens is Calium; and you don't want him to come out, so I'll take care of you instead," Sidney said as he crossed his arms.

"Foolish…" Hades fired off a bullet with his fingers towards Sidney to test him, but a magic circle appeared, running through Sidney as he went entirely transparent, and the bullet flew past him. "Ghost Magic? That's rare…"

"Resurrection: Frankenstein," Sidney placed his foot on the snow covered ground as a magic circle appeared, and out from it came a fifty foot cliché looking Frankenstein. The Frankenstein raised its arm, and then brought it down on Hades.

Hades, unfazed by the giant monstrosity, merely launched two chains from his hands, latching them onto the Frankenstein, and using his amazing strength to swing the Frankenstein around before slamming it elsewhere on the mountain, causing a miniature tremor, and the Frankenstein to vanish. "Anything else?"

Sidney didn't show it, but he was slightly surprised that Hades was able to even lift the creation with such an old body. "Hm…" Sidney clapped his hands together, but before he could decide what to do, two chains wrapped around his body, constricting it. The next moment, the chains exploded, and the force sent Sidney hurtling into a boulder.

"S-Sidney…!" Kuro shouted weakly.

Before Sidney could react next, Hades once again formed the Amaterasu seal around Sidney. Not the one he used on Adam, but an equally powerful once. The seal exploded, engulfing Sidney's body; but when the smoke cleared, Sidney was inside a heavily cracked urn, whose lid popped open. The urn shattered after, and Sidney didn't show any signs of external damage, but he knew Hades was no normal mage. Hades was on a completely different level than Sidney, and he knew this. "…"

"Enough," Calium stood behind Hades, his eyes glaring at the former Fairy Tail master. "Sidney, back inside."

"Old man…" Sidney started, but he knew not to argue with Calium so he did what he was told, and went back inside with a noticeable limp.

"So, are you the master?" Hades asked while turning around.

"I don't appreciate you barging in here and attacking my brats," Calium said with an evil stare.

"Don't worry. When I attacked Fairy Tail, I attacked the Boy too…I was just curious to see if the rumors were true. And frankly, I'm surprised…and disappointed. Makarov's brood isn't strong enough to defeat this…?" Hades sighed slightly.

Growing agitated by Hades' nonchalant attitude, Cailum fired off two beams of darkness and light towards Hades. But Hades responded by holding his hands out, absorbing both beams, and then sent it back towards Calium in the form of pure darkness magic. "What…?" Calium was nearly taken off guard by Hades' trick, but Calium then formed a spiral of white magic in front of him, absorbing the attack completely. The spiral then appeared above Hades, unleashing the very same magic upon him.

"Interesting…" Hades thought to himself as he jumped high into the air, avoiding the magic as it crashed into the ground, shaking the earth slightly. He then formed two chains, latching them onto Calium's arms, and swung him around in the air for a few seconds, then slammed him back into the ground.

"M-Master…!" Nami shouted.

"Shit…" Reve groaned slightly. "The only man's body isn't up for that kinda battle…"

Calium lay on the ground for a few minutes before using his staff to support him. The old man was powerful magically, but in terms of strength, he was lacking, for multiple reasons. With a clap of his hands, Calium created two towers of darkness on Hades' sides, above, and below him. As Calium did this, Hades moved his hands in a circular motion, creating a sphere of darkness within the space of his hands. "Eclipse Tower!"

"Grimoire LAW!"

And with that, a large explosion shook the entire area.

.

.

Not much time passed as Luke and Heather finally made it back to the mountain trail, hiking up it as always as the thoughts of returning home filled their heads. "We would've been back sooner if we took the train…just so you know…" Luke said.

"I don't like trains, I'd rather walk," Heather nodded.

"Yeah, yeah…" Luke shrugged slightly. "Either way, I think we've earned the right to sleep for a wee-…" Before Luke could finish his sentence, he and Heather saw the same thing at the exact same time. White Eclipse was in shambles.

.

.

Hades sat in his chair in the Grimoire Heart Airship in an undisclosed, yet open location, waiting. "The 7 Kin may be down again…and I may not have my heart…but this time, I will show "them" what a true mistake is…"


	25. Chapter 25: The Battle With Hades

"This is his ship…?!" Cynthia asked as she stared up at the grounded Grimoire Heart Ship.

"It doesn't look like it's changed at all…" Lucy said quietly.

"Is he on board, Natsu?" Gray asked as he turned to Natsu, he sniffed the air. After a few seconds, Natsu gave an affirmative nod.

"Yeah, the bastard's up there alright," Natsu pounded his fist into his palm as a wildfire appeared around his body. "I hope he's ready for another lesson!"

"Nothing's going to keep me out of the fun this time around…Gieheh…" Gajeel couldn't help but grin as he thought about the fight.

Seeing her fellow team getting excited for the fight, Juvia gave a nod. "Juvia is ready."

"I'm ready too!" Wendy shouted.

"Then let's go!" Natsu grinned, and then he, along with the others, jumped high into the air, and onto the ship, wasting no time in running inside, where Hades was waiting.

"So…you've returned…" Hades said as he crossed his arms, eying the group of seven in front of him.

"You haven't learned!" Natsu said as he wasted no time with the small talk. Instead, the salamander jumped high into the air, forming two spheres of fire in his hands, which he brought over his head, forming a large sphere of fire. "Dazzling Blaze of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu hurled the sphere forward towards Hades.

"I've learned from my mistakes…" Hades replied as he quickly jumped to the side, avoiding the Blaze as it struck the floor, creating an explosion.

As soon as Hades dodged, Cynthia leapt into the air, clicking her legs together as she spun around, red fire surrounding them in the shape of a drill as she rushed towards Hades. "Omega Fire Dragon's Drill!"

"What?" Hades turned, only to see Cynthia coming towards him, however he wasn't left with any time to dodge, so he took the hit full own, sliding back across the ground from the force.

Wendy quickly puffed her cheeks out, and snapped her head forward after about a second, a light blue magic seal appearing in front of her as she unleashed a sky blue hurricane towards Hades. "Sky Dragon's Roar!"

Lucy quickly pulled one of her keys out, holding it forward as the tip of the key gave off a bright gold light. "Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!" With a confident moo, Taurus rose from the ground. "Merge your attack with Wendy's!"

"Anything for you and your nice body, Lucy-sama!" With a nod, Taurus jumped forward, swinging his axe around Wendy's roar, much like with Scorpio's Sand Buster technique. Taurus then swung his axe down at Hades.

"Unison Raid…?" Hades looked towards the axe, seeing little time to dodge such a thing, but he jumped to the side, avoiding the brunt of the attack, but he was still hit nonetheless, rolling to the side.

"Iron Dragon's Hard fist!" Gajeel jumped forward, his arm covering in his iron scales as he pulled it back then threw it forward at Hades. But, Hades jumped back, allowing Gajeel's fist to hit the floor, breaking it apart easily. "Where do you think you're going!?" Gajeel held his other arm out, morphing it into an iron pole, which he then slammed into Hades' side, forcing Hades to move to the side, leaving him open to yet another attack.

"Ice Magic Sword! Ice Bringer!" Gray jumped forward with two large heavy artillery swords with both of his hands, then slashed Hades across the chest with both large blades. Gray fell to his knees after, smirking from the direct him.

"Water Cane!" Juvia used her water body to her advantage, extending her arm forward as it turned into a whip of water, which she used to slam Hades back into the ground, creating a dust cloud.

"HAH!" Cynthia grinned cheekily at the rate of successful attacks. "That wasn't so hard!"

Juvia eyed the dust cloud carefully, unsure if Hades was finished from those attacks. "…For some reason Juvia thinks it wasn't that easy…"

When the smoke cleared, Hades was seen standing; without a single mark on his body. This shocked Cynthia, Juvia, and Gajeel, but Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, and Gray knew how powerful Hades was. The only thing they found surprising about it was that they have been training since the seven year freeze in their power was established, yet even with all of that, Hades was unharmed. "That should be enough warm up exercises, yes?" Hades asked as if he hadn't even been attacked at all.

"We're just getting started!" Natsu shouted as his body flared up intensely once more, and he lunged forward head first. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"

"I can see nothing has changed within seven years," Hades said as he shifted his body to the left, allowing Natsu to pass him. But, Hades created the chains, wrapping them around Natsu's feet, then swung Natsu around towards the group of six, forcing them to jump back before Natsu was rudely slammed into the ship's floor, creating a small crater. "In other words, you haven't learned a thing."

"Taurus!" Lucy shouted.

"Of course! MOOO!" Taurus brought his axe up, and swung it down towards Hades, but Hades merely pointed a finger out, and fired a piercing bullet into Taurus' chest, defeating the bull spirit instantly, causing him to turn into golden fuzz as he returned to the Spirit World.

"Oh no…!" Lucy started to pull out another key, but before she could summon the spirit, Hades wrapped his chains around her and started to swing her around, causing a yelp to escape Lucy's lips.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!" Gajeel jumped up, bringing is spinning saw blade of a sword down on the chain, severing it, freeing Lucy in the process. But his action did not go unpunished, as Hades used his free hand to create yet another chain, swinging Gajeel into the freed Lucy, thus creating a crater in the wall.

"Omega Fire Dragon's Talons!" Cynthia jumped up, her foot blazing with red fire, aiming it towards Hades' head, but Hades brought up his forearm, blocking the hit with relative ease, causing Cynthia to jump back.

"Sky Dragon's Claw!" Wendy jumped forward just as Cynthia jumped back, leaving Hades with no time to avoid the incoming punch to his chest, causing him to slid back just a little bit, but he counter the punch by swinging his leg at Wendy's side; the force sending her flying away.

"Radiant Blaze…!" Cynthia jumped into the air, merging to spheres of red fire in her hands, creating a larger sphere within seconds, to which she hurled forward. "Of the Omega Fire Dragon!"

"Hm…" Hades held his hand out, creating a purple magic barrier which absorbed Cynthia's blaze, converting it into darkness magic, and immediately sent it back at Cynthia; the resulting explosion shaking the ship slightly as Cynthia hit the wall in the back.

Gray quickly placed his fist into his palm, and then threw his arms forward as a blue magic seal appeared in front of him. "Ice Make: Hammer!" From the magic circle, a large ice hammer shot out at a violent velocity, speeding towards Hades. Hades had no time to react to the blow, so the hammer struck him in the stomach, forcing him back a few feet, but he caught himself, finding that this game was getting a little boring for him now.

"Your skill has improved, I will admit…" Hades said as he pointed his hands forward, now using his bullet magic as he began spraying piercing bullets everywhere. "But you should already know that I dance with magic!" Hades began laughing sadistically as his bullets began to strike his opponents.

Juvia stared at the bullets incoming, a tiny smirk forming on her lips. "Juvia's body is made of water! Those bullets won't…!" Before Juvia could finish, a bullet struck through her watery shoulder, causing a yelp of pain to escape the water mage's lips. But, before anyone else could head to Juvia's aid, the spray of bullets got to them sending them rolling across the ground just from the force of it.

Gajeel allowed his iron scales to cover his body, but he quickly found that Hades' bullets had no problem cutting through his defenses, also damaging him in the process. "D-Dammit!"

"These stupid bullets…!" Cynthia's body flared in darkened red flames as she grew annoyed with the constant bullet fire. She then puffed her cheeks out as a darkened vortex of red fire surrounded her mouth. "ROAR…" Upon seeing this, Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy followed suit, fighting through the pain of the bullets striking their body as they began to puff their cheeks out. "Of the Omega Fire Dragon!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

The four roars merged in the middle, creating a funnel of fire, iron, and wind, which slammed into Hades, running through the backside of the ship, spiraling out for a few seconds before dying down. When the smoke from the attack cleared, the ship had a large hole in its back, but Hades stood up, damaged from the attack, but nothing near as much as the group was expecting. "Is that all you have right now?" Hades asked.

"W-What the hell is this guy!?" Gajeel asked with widened eyes.

"He took that like it was just a slap on the wrist…!" Cynthia gasped. Hades pointed his finger out, gathering a large amount of magic energy as a single, yet large bullet formed on the tip of his finger. Without delay, Hades fired off the Explosive Shot towards the four dragon slayers.

"Watch out!" Gray jumped forward, spreading his arms out as he created a large rampart of ice in front of them. "Ice Make: Rampart!" The rampart was a strong form of defensive, but to Hades' bullet it was nothing more than mere practice. The bullet broke through the ice and struck Gray directly, sending him in the wall, and hit the ground in KO.

"G-GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia's eyes widened at Gray's defense, which caused something in her to start boiling. Juvia stood up slowly, ignoring the pain in her arm as her latent power began to show from Gray's defeat. "Water Slicer!" With her rage increasing, Juvia sent sharp blades of water in Hades' direction. Hades didn't respond verbally; instead he kept his hand pointed, firing a single shot. This one shot pierced through Juvia's attack, and struck her in the chest, causing her eyes to widen as she collapsed to the ground, also in KO.

"J-Juvia!" Cynthia's jaw dropped, and then she turned to Hades. "H-How strong is this guy…!?"

"Too powerful…" Gajeel said to himself.

"I believe the time for playing around is over…" Hades said as he pointed both of his index fingers at the group, merging two explosive bullets together to create and even larger bullet.

"T-There's no room to dodge that…!" Lucy shrieked.

"Goodbye, Fairy Tail," Hades said as he fired off the shot. Before the shot reached the group of five, a gray magic circle appeared, creating a large mirror in front of them. "WHAT!?" The bullet bounced off the mirror, then flew back at Hades, landing a direct hit, sending Hades flying back, but he managed to catch himself. "Who dares…!?"

"Having a bad day, amigos?" Luke asked as he and Heather jumped down from the ceiling of the ship.

"Luke!" Lucy shouted in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Natsu asked.

"This guy thought it was okay to mess up White Eclipse; and since Heather and I weren't there when he did, it's only right we return the favor!" Luke replied.

"I see you've lost some people already…" Heather said in reference to Gray and Juvia.

"Welp, let's make this quick, eh?" Luke asked with a smirk.

"White Eclipse mages?" Hades raised a brow. "I thought I defeated all of them…no matter…"

Luke allowed fire and lightning to cover his body, bringing a shock to Hades as it reminded him of what Natsu had. "Let's dance, old man!" Luke reared his fist back as he charged Hades. "Iron Fist of the Lightning Flame Dragon!"

"Copy mage?" Hades said in almost surprise. But when Luke swung, Hades swayed to the left, avoiding the punch, and landed a punch of his own at Luke's jaw, sending the copy mage flying back.

While Luke provided the distraction, Natsu entered lightning flame, Gajeel entered Iron Shadow, and Wendy entered Omega Flame sky, now seeing that they had the chance to do so. "Heh, nice distraction," Gajeel shouted over to Luke.

"Yeah…sure…" Luke groaned slightly.

"Poison Dragon's Scales," Heather held her hand out as a magenta magic circle appeared, releasing high speed volley of poisonous scales towards Hades.

"A poison dragon?" Hades held his hand out, allowing the scales to enter the purple barrier, thus transforming the poisonous attack into darkness magic. Hades fired the sphere of darkness magic back at Heather. Though Heather had enough time to allow poisonous defensive scales to cover her body, lowering the damage of the sphere, but the sphere still hit heavily, so it sent Heather rolling across the ground.

"Gate of the Lion, I open Thee! Loke!" Lucy held out yet another key, this time releasing her most trusted spirit, and member of Fairy Tail; Loke.

"Nice to see you again, Lucy," Loke said with a smirk. "So, this is the one who attacked Fairy Tail?"

"That's right!" Lucy replied with a nod.

"I see…" Loke rubbed his wrists for a few seconds before his fist began to shine, activating his Regulas. He then dashed towards Hades, throwing fist forward, but Hades caught it with ease.

Wendy jumped into the air, raising her arms high, and then swung them down, unleashing red fire and blue wind down towards Hades. "Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Wing Slash!"

"What…!?" Hades released Loke's fist, and the spirit jumped back, allowing Hades to take the wing slash, feeling damage behind that. Before Hades could do anything else, Gajeel slammed an iron pole merged with shadows into Hades' back, sending Hades tumbling forward. When Hades looked up, he noticed both Cynthia and Natsu coming down with their fist pulled back. He had no time to react as the two slammed their fists into him, resulting in an explosion that blew everyone back.

"Did we get him!?" Cynthia asked as she looked through the smoke.

"How's that for stronger, you bastard!" Natsu said with a grin. But, Natsu's grin faded as the smoke cleared. Hades was STILL standing, though it was clear he suffered damage from the assault. "W-What!?"

"How durable is this fucker!?" Gajeel shouted.

"There's no way anyone should be able to stand up to that…" Luke growled.

"Copy mage…" Hades sent his sights on Luke as he thought to himself. "It would be troublesome if he happened to get ahold of my spells…" Hades made direct eye contact with Luke, and that's what sealed the fate of the Copy mage. "KYAH!" Hades let out a loud shouted, and Luke's eyes widened. The next thing everyone knew, Luke exploded, and his body flew back, near lifeless on the ground.

"L-LUKE!" Heather immediately ran over to the fatally injured copy mage, crouching down after.

"W-What just…!?" Gajeel looked on in shock.

"D-Dammit…" Luke groaned loudly. "I-I can't move…"

"Don't speak…" Heather demanded.

"Is that what Holorugium-san protected me from last time…?" Wendy asked.

"That's insane…" Cynthia said quietly. Wendy then rushed over to Luke, placing her palms over his body as a sea-green light emitted, and she began to heal the copy mage. She wasn't going to bring him to normal status, but just enough to where he wouldn't be in critical condition.

"Do not bring that mage back into his battle…" Hades ordered, pointing his finger out as he fired a piercing shot, right through Wendy's chest, putting healer in near critical condition herself.

"W-Wendy!" Natsu and Lucy shouted.

Cynthia's eyes just widened as Wendy was attacked. Of course, the bullet was too fast for her to react to, but seeing Wendy go down like that made something in Cynthia's head snap. It was as if her rock just shattered. "W-Wendy…" Dark red flames then started to surround Cynthia's body, starting to flare wildly.

"C-Cynthia…!" Lucy said in shock. She, along with the others knew what was happening, but they didn't have any way to stop it. With a loud scream, dark red flames towered up, easily destroying the ceiling and towered into the sky.

"Oh…" Hades said in a slightly impressed tone. "So this is the legendary Omega Fire Dragon…" Hades then shook his head disapprovingly. "Adding a weapon of mass destruction to the guild…that is not the Fairy Tail I know…" Cynthia's eyes turned a blazing red as the flames died down, now flaring wildly, uncontrollably around her body. She then turned towards her own group, taking a few steps forward.

"Shit, this isn't the time for her to go crazy…" Gajeel said with a low growl.

"You can't be…serious…" Luke said quietly as he looked over to Wendy, who was basically unconscious.

"A mistake is eventually named experience…but this is one mistake where there is no experience to be gained. I never imagined a member of Fairy Tail would turn in the midst of battle and take out their own comrades," Hades sighed. He was amused, yet disappointed at the same time.

A few moment of silence passed before the tension in the air seemed to lift, and Cynthia opened her mouth to speak. "What are you looking at me like that for…?"

"W-What!?" Natsu was in surprise at first, but then he smirked, realizing what was going on. Cynthia closed her eyes, and reopened them slowly, showing her normal, sky blue eyes, and the flames seemed to flare a bit differently now. They were still as intense as mentioned before, but this time they were tame.

"S-She's in control…!" Lucy said with a large grin.

Cynthia looked over towards Wendy, a frown appearing on her face. She then turned around, facing Hades, who was slightly intrigued now. Cynthia slowly made her way over to Hades, every step taken leaving a miniature crater underneath her feet. "You said a true mistake leaves one with no experience…?" Cynthia asked in a low, threatening tone. "You're right about that…you're first mistake was attacking Fairy Tail…but you just don't learn, do you…" When Cynthia got close, she pulled her fist back, and then threw it at Hades, the force sending him flying back, almost unable to catch himself, but he managed to do so with a look of shock on his face.


	26. Chapter 26: Triple Roar

A large explosion erupted from the Grimoire Heart airship, rocking the ship violently as the battle between the Omega Fire Dragon and the Grimoire Heart master raged on. Cynthia flipped over, allowing her dark red flames to flare intensely as her signature fire trailed from her arms, and she jumped forward slashing Hades with her wings of fire. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Cynthia cried out.

Hades let out a surprised grunt of pain as Cynthia's attack landed, sending him skidding back across the ground, but he then threw his arms forward, sending white chains that latched onto Cynthia's shoulders. Hades then used his immense strength to swing the girl around wildly before slamming her into the ground, rocking the ship slightly. "What is this power…!?" Hades thought to himself as Cynthia stood up after the slam.

"They look even…" Loke said as he watched the battle, prepared to jump in anytime if he had to.

"She's stronger than that…" Luke groaned slightly, attempting to move, but Heather made sure he wasn't able to. "She can dig deeper…"

"I don't think that would be the best considering how carried away she can get…" Lucy said softly.

"Cynthia…" Wendy groaned softly as she regained consciousness, but she was only able to watch the fight continue.

Cynthia flipped forward, swinging her foot down on Hades' head, but he managed to block it by bringing his forearms up, but the ground beneath him cratered immensely. "She's relatively even…"

"Stubborn old man…" Cynthia mumbled under her breath, then jumped back, but that was her mistake, as Hades immediately started to use his bullet magic, his hands in a position as if he were dual wielding two guns, and unleashed a flurry of piercing bullets towards Cynthia as she flipped back, catching the girl off guard. "Gah…!" Cynthia swayed her body to the left as she dodged a few bullets, but a few others managed to run right through her arms, but she managed to keep pushing through. In order to stop the assault, Cynthia snapped her fingers, creating multiple dark red magic circles around Hades, catching him off guard slightly as the seals unleashed red fire that exploded on him, creating dust cloud. When the dust cleared, Hades was still standing, and he had visible marks on his body.

"You're on a higher level right now than anyone else I've come across…" Hades said. "Perhaps one of Makarov's strongest…but, I believe that is enough warm up exercises, don't you agree?"

"You said that last time…!" Cynthia snarled as she clenched her fist tightly.

"I have a good measure of your power now, little girl," Hades said as he pointed a finger out, charging up an explosive shot on the tip of his fingers. "But I wonder…" As Hades started to speak, the small bullet on the tip of his finger started to grow in diameter. "If you can survive against an attack such as this?" Hades clicked the trigger, sending the explosive shot hurtling in Cynthia's direction.

"Ack!" The size of the attack caught Cynthia off guard, but she managed to snap back into it quickly, forming to sphere of dark red fire in her hands. She then raised her hands over her head, combining the two spheres of fire together to create a large sphere of dark red flames. "Dazzling Blaze of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia hurled the sphere forward, clashing with the explosive round Hades fired off. The two attacks fought for dominance, but they were even and eventually exploded. The force of the explosion was so great it forced the two combatants and the spectators flying back.

"Gah!" Natsu rolled before hopping back to his feet, panting slightly from his magic consumption earlier. "Dammit…if I had just a little more magic…"

"Same, Salamander…" Gajeel grunted as he panted somewhat.

"There's gotta be something we can do to help her…" Heather mumbled.

"This is really annoying…" Cynthia mumbled as she stood up straight. But, as she looked around, she noticed an Amaterasu formula around her. "W-What is this?!"

"Cynthia look out!" Lucy shouted. But it was too late for the young girl. The Amaterasu formula exploded around the young girl, creating a sphere of darkness around her, kicking up a massive wind.

"All who are hit by this formula lose all their magic power; furthermore, they lose all power in their limbs," Hades simply said as the sphere started to vanish…and when it did, Cynthia was not standing. Hades, and the spectator's eyes widened as Holorugium kept Cynthia safe from harm. "What the…?"

"H-Holorugium!?" Lucy shouted.

"I can only do this one, Lucy-sama," The clockwork spirit replied. "Thank you! She says," Holorugium said to convey what Cynthia was saying. The clock spirit then vanished and Cynthia stood on her two feet.

"Doesn't that only happen when the level of danger is extremely high…?" Gajeel asked Lucy.

"Yeah…" Lucy replied with a simple nod.

"WHERE WAS THAT WHEN I ALMOST DIED!?" Luke shouted.

"My turn!" Cynthia replied, rearing her head back, her cheeks beginning to puff out as a vortex of darkened red fire started to swirl around her mouth. "Roar…" Cynthia then snapped her head forward, unleashing a massive funnel of dark red fire racing towards Hades. Cynthia's roar utterly destroyed the ground it traveled over, ripping through the ship as it slammed into Hades, going out at least two miles into the distance. When the roar faded, Cynthia panted slightly, grinning at the finally downed Hades. But this didn't last for long; Hades stood up slowly, quite damaged from Cynthia's last attack. This action caused Cynthia to gasp with widened eyes. "W-What!? How is that possible!?"

"You think you are so powerful because you have the power to destroy Fiore if given the chance, yes? Well, you have to learn, little girl…there is always someone stronger…" Hades replied as he stood up, acting as though he was undamaged from the attack, but in reality he was quite damaged.

"S-Someone stronger…?" Cynthia repeated…but then she fell to her knees, gasping for air, completely exhausted as her flames died down. "A-Ah…"

"W-What's wrong with her!?" Natsu asked.

"Oh? I thought you were going to defeat me? Is something wrong?" Hades asked in a slightly condescending tone.

"I-I can't move…my…body…" Cynthia then fell onto her stomach, unable to move.

"W-What's going on!?" Gajeel asked.

"Wait..." Loke started.

"Did she get hit by that attack after all!?" Lucy finished.

"Oh, well, it appears your mistake has been made clear…" Hades said as he pointed his fingers forward, charging up the finishing explosive shot.

"What are we gonna do now…?" Lucy asked.

"C-Cynthia…" Wendy stood up slowly, but she was barely able to stand, so she hunched over, panting heavily as a result from her earlier injury.

"Hey…" Luke started, his voice somewhat weak sounding than before. His voice caused Lucy and the three dragon slayers to look at him. Luke then pointed into the sky, smirking victoriously as he pointed to a ball of shadows, a ball of lightning, and a ball of fire floating in the air. "You three look pretty hungry…so…with the power vested in me…Dinner is served!" Luke threw his hands down, sending the ball of shadows to Gajeel, the ball of lightning to Natsu, and the ball of flames to Wendy. The three dragon slayers consumed the element and grinned as a magic circle appeared under their feet, their magic power restored as magic energy started to emit from their dual modes, causing the ship to shake.

"Now that I've eaten…" Natsu said with a smirk as his lightning flame aura started to flare and spark wildly. "I'm all fired up!" Natsu reared his head back, his cheeks puffing out, and his stomach inflating as he gathered all the magic energy he just attained from Luke; Gajeel and Wendy did the same and this action caused Hades' eyes to widen.

"What…!?" Hades shouted slightly. "Tch!" Hades moved his hands in a circular, counterclockwise motion, creating dark sphere within the empty space. "Grimoire…"

"Not so fast!" Loke jumped forward, jumping through the window left open by the three dragon slayers preparing their attacks. Loke slammed his fist into Hades' jaw, providing an efficient opening for the dragon slayers to do their thing. "Alright you three!" Loke then jumped back, receiving positive cheers from his owner.

"Nice job, Loke!" Lucy said happily.

"Poison Dragon's Scales!" Heather, not wanting to feel left out, shouted, a magenta magic seal appearing in front of her as she unleashed poisonous scales that struck the off guard Hades, injecting the deadly virus into his system, thus making any attempt to dodge pointless.

Natsu reared his head forward, unleashing a massive tunnel of fire and lightning towards Hades, roaring out, "Roar of the Lightning Flame Dragon!"

Gajeel followed suit, unleashing a funnel of iron shards and shadows towards Hades, merging with Natsu's lightning flame roar, all while shouting, "Roar of the Iron Shadow Dragon!"

And finally, Wendy unleashed her dual roar of the blue wind and red fire, combining it with the two roars mentioned before, creating a powerful unison raid that left no time to evade. "Roar of the Omega Flame Sky Dragon!"

"N-NO!? I LOST AGAIN!?" Hades thought to himself as the roars came in. With no time to dodge or counter, the Grimoire Heart leader had no choice but to take the full force of the triple unison roar, which exploded once it made contact with him. When the roar dispersed, Hades was unconscious on the floor, signifying that Fairy Tail and White Eclipse claimed victory over Hades.


	27. Chapter 27: Planning of the Dark

It had been days since Grimoire Heart's defeat at the hands of the guilds Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, who were assisted by the guilds Mermaid Heel, , Qautro Cerberus, Sabertooth, and two guilds who are starting to make a name for themselves, especially after helping out with the Grimoire Heart incident, Cosmic Star and Twilight Zone. The Fairy Tail guild hall was slowly rebuilt, and had been restored about 70% of the way. Everyone was in the guild this time around, so the process went smoothly. "I'm getting real tired of people coming over here and smashing the place up…" Gajeel said with an annoyed sigh as he used his hand, which was now morphed into a wrench for the time being, to screw in a few nuts at the roof of the ceiling.

"You know…you were one of those people not too long ago…" Alzack said with a slight chuckle, poking some fun towards the iron dragon slayer.

"Well you know what…!?" Gajeel started, obviously slightly irritated by the gun slinging fairy, though Alzack just gave a joking laugh in response.

"Oi," Laxus said, walking over to Natsu. "What ever happened to that old man, and the rest of his crew?" He asked, referring to Hades and the other members.

"Put him right where he belongs! In a jail cell!" Natsu said to the fellow dragon slayer with a grin. "He…and…and…just him…"

"You don't know what happened to the others?" Laxus asked.

"Nope," Natsu said with a straight face.

"Oi…" Laxus let out a slightly annoyed sigh before turning and walking off.

"You really don't know what happened to the other members of Grimoire Heart?" Erza asked.

"Aside from Hades," Lucy started as she tapped her chin. "I don't know what happened ot the other members…"

"I suppose it doesn't matter for now, babies," Bickslow said with a subtle shrug.

"I guess," Lucy replied before shrugging.

Mirajane acting her usual cheery self, walked around what was currently the guild hall, passing drinks around to anyone who wanted one. "You're all doing a great job!" She said with an optimistic voice.

"How can she stay so happy all the time…?" Cynthia said in a depressed down, blue lines appearing over her head in an animated fashion.

"Mira-nee always tries her best to be happy around the guild!" Lisanna replied. Lisanna then noticed Cynthia's depressed mood. "Cynthia…are you alright…?"

"I'm fine…" Cynthia replied as she walked off after, unintentionally being rude.

"Oi," Max Alors, the sand mage, said as he walked over to Lisanna, furrowing a brow in confusion. "Is she alright…? She's usually much more cheery."

"She's been depressed ever since they came back from that battle…" Lisanna sighed. "I wonder what happened…"

"She just needs some space." Wendy said, frowning slightly with concern for her best friend. A few more minutes past within the busy guild until the town started shifting in a slightly familiar formation.

"T-The town's moving again…!" Lisanna gasped slightly.

"Does this mean!?" Natsu perked up in excitement as he rushed to the only window that faced the town of Magnolia that wasn't broken, and sure enough, Natsu's assumption was correct. The town was now in a position to where there was just a single straight path to the guild.

"He's coming back…shit…" Cana sighed slightly before grabbing the nearest barrel of alcohol and started chugging down, enjoying her last few moments of freedom before she was smothered with love she found quite unnecessary.

"It's been quite some time…" Makarov said to himself as he examined the mostly ruined guild. "At least he won't break a much…heheh…" A few minutes passed, and the one and only ace of Fairy Tail walked in, Gildarts Clive, a small back slung over his shoulder as he walked inside. Gildarts looked around, furrowing a brow in confusion as he wasn't quite sure what was going on within the guild.

"Huh…something seems different about this place…every single time I leave it's like something new happens…" Gildarts said to himself, not quite taking notice of the other members yet.

"How is he not noticing…?" Cana started with a sigh.

"GILDARTS!" Natsu shouted, igniting his fist in flames as soon as he laid eyes on the ace, grinning widely as he dashed forward towards the ace. "Fight me!"

Natsu's yelling attracted Gildarts' attention, and before Natsu could even swing his fist, Gildarts caught the ecstatic dragon slayer and spun him around a few times before flinging Natsu into the ceiling…or to be more accurate, what he THOUGHT was the ceiling. Since a part of the ceiling wasn't around, Gildarts inadvertently flung Natsu into the sky. Upon doing so, Gildarts immediately realized what was different about the guild. "…Did I do this?"

"NATSU!" Happy shouted, immediately flying up to retrieve Natsu from the sky.

"And there he goes…" Levy said while looking up at the sky.

"Welcome back, Gildarts!" Makarov said with a grin.

"GILDARTS!" Cynthia tackled Gildarts quite happily, almost bringing the crash mage onto the ground, but he managed to catch himself. "Welcome back!"

"Whoa!" Gildarts caught the little girl before setting her down. "Thank you for the welcome!" Gildarts quickly scanned the area, and then spotted Cana in the corner, drinking her beer. "CANA!"

"Shit…!" Cana heard her named called, and the next thing she knew Gildarts started to smother her immediately. "Dammit! Put me down old man!"

Gildarts completely ignored Cana as he continued to smother her. "How's my baby girl been!?"

.

.

White Eclipse was slightly better off than Fairy Tail in terms of guild damage. The only damage that remained within the guild was the injury of a few members. "How many times have you almost died now?" Cygnus asked Luke as he nudged the copy mage.

"Too many to count…" Luke replied with a slight laugh.

"Your close calls won't last forever," Sidney said as he walked past the two.

"And there goes the mood…" Luke said with a sigh.

"Could be worse," Cygnus said with a shrug before walking off. Aira and Zain then walked into the main room from the infirmary, both sighing slightly.

"How's Master…?" Nami asked.

"He's fine, for now," Zain said while rubbing the back of his head. "He really shouldn't have taken that battle though…"

"He knew that," Waiston said with a slight sigh of disappointment. "But he tried to protect us…"

"He'll be fine!" Aira said with a hopeful tone. "He took his medicine, and now he just needs a lot of rest, and he should be good as new!"

"Good!" Kuro said while eating a bowl of noodles.

"Until then, what do we do?" Nami asked.

"Just don't bother him…otherwise…" Zain started, trailing off as the members around quickly knew what he was going to say.

"You hear that?" Reve said as he walked forward. "No bothering the old man."

.

.

At the Mermaid Heel guild, the main members, including Kagura, were inside as they were preparing the addition of their newest female member. "Feeling spiffy?!" Milliana asked as she constantly walked around Melody in excitement.

"W-What…?" Melody looked towards the female feline with confusion. "What's what mean!? Wait, no…better question…do I want to know?"

"You should relax more…!" Beth said with a nod.

Kagura walked over towards Melody, a faint smile on her face as she held the Mermaid Heel stamp up. "You aren't even a member of this guild, yet you've done a lot for this guild, and you never even had to."

"Yes I did…!" Melody replied. "You took me in when I was in such a bad state…I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for your kindness to me, Kagura…"

"Would you like you join Mermaid Heel?" Kagura asked.

"W-Would you really let me…!?" Melody's eyes widened in excitement at the question, even more so when the female before her gave a nod. "Then yes, I want to join!"

.

.

"It's not surprising they failed," Ruika said while waving a hand dismissively.

"What do you mean not surprising!?" Zancrow asked in annoyance.

"You lost to children," Ruika replied. "I saw the entire thing, and it appears a "Gecko" can beat a god."

"Why you…!" Zancrow clenched his fist, his black flames starting to flare.

"Cool it, annoying wanker…" Maggie said with an uninterested yawn. "You and your buddies should be thankful we decided to pull you out before the Council got you."

"They got everyone else aside from myself and Zancrow," Rutsyrose replied while fixing his glasses with his index finger.

"Couldn't they have gotten you too…?" Kiora sighed in annoyance.

"Heh…someone who Kiora hates even more than me," Tobias said with a slight smirk, feeling somewhat confident about his new standing.

"Shut up, Tobias," Kiora said right after Tobias spoke.

"Sora likes Tobias!" The pinkette said with a grin.

"What'd you pull us out for, anyway?" Zancrow asked as he crossed his arms, looking at the Tartaros members around.

"It appears Dait still has some use for you two," Rugal said as he walked in the room alongside Mithril.

"And if you fail him again, he said I have full permission to eat you," Mithril said to the two Grimoire Heart mages as he licked his lips.

"…This fucker is crazier than I am…" Zancrow said as he took a step back from Mithril.

"So, how'd it feel losing to someone who doesn't even have their own abilities?" Kiora asked Rustyrose with a taunting smile.

"His kind is the lowest of the low, and I feel ashamed to have been finished by his attack…" Rustyrose replied.

"Ah…don't feel bad…he got me too…" Tobias said.

"Shut up, Tobias," Daityas said as he walked into the room. "You two are still alive, eh?"

"You want us, apparently," Zancrow replied.

"For now, I want you two to lay low," Daityas said. "Now then…what are the reports on the other members of Grimoire Heart?"

"Azuma's condition is unknown," Ruika said. "But he's most likely dead. Kain Hikaru, Bluenote Stinger, and Hades are all in Magic Council prison, with no chance of escape."

"They caught Bluenote and Hades, hm…" Daityas thought aloud.

"It appears that Bluenote chap had quite a good run before eventually getting defeated," Maggie said as she sat back in a chair, crossing one leg over the other as she had a demon servant bring her a drink. "Council, two gravity mages, and silver make mage."

"HA!" Ruika couldn't let out a chuckle. "Makers…what a joke…"

Kiora raised an eyebrow at Ruika's comment about maker magic, as Kiora did indeed use Shadow Make Magic occasionally. "Oh?"

"Aside from you, of course," Ruika continued.

"Reminds me of that one maker mage…" Tobias started, starting to trail off. "I forget her name, but she was a powerful Ice make wizard…and she had power equal to one of the ten wizard saints…"

"Tobias what the fuck did I just…" Daityas started, but then he stopped, as Tobias actually started to stir an idea in the king of hell's mind. "Repeat that?"

"I said…Ice Make female mage…?" Tobias said with a puzzled expression.

"…Ah…ahaha…Rugal!" Daityas turned to Rugal, who turned to Daityas attentively.

"Yes, Master?" The green haired dimension mage asked.

"I need you to take a trip to the ocean," Daityas said. "Specifically…"

"Is that all…? Easy," Rugal nodded, and a portal appeared behind him. Rugal then stepped backwards into the portal, and it faded.

"Oh…if that's who you're after…" Ruika started. "I also have reports on a guild below us."

"A guild below us?" Kiora asked. "Which one, there are so many."

"Silent Sanctum," Ruika replied. "I've seen that they've revived Ultear Mlikovich, and seem to be on a particular movement…"

"Let them do as they wish," Daityas replied. "Keep an eye on them, so their movements will be within our eyes the entire time. For now, we'll just see how far they can get without us interfering."

.

.

"The mighty time ark mage defeated by a gunslinger? Weak...!" Byron said in a mocking tone as Ultear, who was wrapped in some bandages, walked into the always dusty main room which somewhat resembled a bar.

"You were defeated by Titania, the same gunslinger, and a construction mage half a year ago…" Veronica said with a taunting smirk.

"I was beating Titania!" Byron shouted.

"Sure you were," Veronica replied while waving a hand tauntingly.

Ultear gave a nod to Veronica before sitting at the bar where Horoki was. "Oi…I need a drink…"

"I think anyone would if they got their ass kicked as bad as you did," Horoki chuckled, but when he received a dark glare from Ultear, he put the joke aside and poured the mage a mug of beer. "Here you are."

"Is everyone here?" Aloysius asked as he walked down into the main room with Jikan.

"It appears all my pupils are indeed here…" Jikan said with an approving nod.

"What's up, Master Jikan?" Veronica asked.

"It appears an opportunity has risen with Grimoire Heart's attack…" Jikan said with a slight smirk.

"I don't understand…" Byron said with a puzzled expression.

"You don't get a lot of things," Ultear replied as she turned around, crossing one leg over the other with her drink in hand. "What is it, Master Jikan?"

"Our plan's second phase is about to begin…" Jikan said with a devious grin.


	28. Chapter 28

Twilight Zone, one of the guilds that participated in the quelling of Grimoire Heart, slowly started to make a name for itself for its participation, as rumors of the dragon slayer who defeated the mighty Bluenote Stinger started to circulate around the southern area of the Fiore. Inside the guild, however, the guild master, Caelestis, congratulated those who took part in the fight against the dark guild with pride. "Nice job, nice job, all of you!" Caelestis said, showing appreciation.

"It was Evanee do really managed to do something…" Flynn said in slight disappointment, feeling bad he was unable to defeat Zancrow.

"She wouldn't let anyone else do anything anyway," Alexander said with a light shrug.

"It doesn't matter in the long run," Rylo said while using his index finger to spin his top hat around his head. "All that matters is that they're gone!"

"Yeah, and Evanee-chwan did great too!" Tsami said with joy.

"Stop calling me that…" Evanee said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Ah, relax a little…!" Taranis said with a wave of his hand.

"Yeah…no…" With a simple wave of her hand, Evanee walked over to the request board and snatched a random SS class job, then walked out of the guild.

"Ah…always so distant…" Flynn sighed.

"She cares though," Caelestis said with a cheesy grin. "Even when she doesn't act like it, she cares. Trust me."

As Evanee walked down the southern mountain, she looked back at her guild briefly, shaking her head as she sneezed, raising a brow after. "What was that about…?" She shrugged, and then looked down at the flyer she grabbed. "Take down a monster in the southern area…? Shouldn't take long…no trains, so I'm good."

.

.

Everything at the Cosmic Star guild seemed to be the same, even after the Grimoire Heart attack. Though the guild was beginning to make a name for itself with their participation, it wasn't as large as the reputation Twilight Zone started to build. "The old man's still not here to congratulate us…" Alex, the red haired S class mage, sighed as she trudged around the guild.

"I bet no one even knows it was me who took out Kain," Daryan sighed.

"Actually," Magnus started, scratching the back of his head. "We have a name…it's just not as big as Twilight Zone made."

"The hell is Twilight Zone?" Gaia asked.

"Another new guild, started around the same time as us," Magnus replied.

"The fact you know all this stuff and you barely leave this place is amazing…" Yakuza said while sitting down in a chair.

"I leave this place!" Magnus said rather defensively.

"Not really…" Gaia said with a stern tone; though the brown haired mage held back a slight snicker. "So, make a name, huh?" Gaia walked over to the request board, and snatched an SS class job. "Alex, do you want to come with me?"

"Do I!?" Alex's eyes sparkled, and the red haired mage bounced over to Gaia happily. "I would love too, Gaia-chan!"

"…Chan?" Gaia blinked a few times, unfamiliar with the term.

"…Let's go!" Alex just nodded.

"What's the job…?" Yakuza asked.

"Taking out some beast in the south, doesn't seem like a problem…come on, Alex," Gaia nodded, and she and Alex walked out the Cosmic Star front doors.

"Gaia really likes Alex to take her on every other SS class mission…" Daryan said between bites of the bone he was now chewing on.

"She IS stronger than you, after all," Magnus said with a teasing smirk.

"Only by a little bit!" Daryan replied. "She hasn't had a single battle in forever though! Too busy looking at the model section of Sorcerer's Weekly and drooling over the models in there…"

"She was a model once too, I think…" Magnus said, obviously getting sidetracked at the thought of his fellow female member in a modeling position.

"Why do you think Gaia's taking her then…? So she can fight and get back in the game…I heard some large guild tournament is coming in a few months, and if we can get in…" Yakuza started.

.

.

Gran Doma, along with the other captains, took a small tour around the cells of the captured Grimoire Heart members. The first one they made a stop at was Kain Hikaru's. "Tch, this fat ass…" Correll said, still highly annoyed that Kain had the nerve to steal his hair and use it against him.

"Calm down, Correll," Odin said. "At least we caught the one who defeated you and Lahar, along with the other ones."

"Zancrow escaped before we were able to catch him…" Aloy said in a slightly annoyed tone, but he was clearly hiding something with that tone deep, deep down.

"As did Rustyrose," Doma sighed slightly, but then turned to the large man. "Where are you comrades? I know you know of their whereabouts."

"I don't know where they are now!" Kain replied.

"Don't lie to us!" Correll shouted.

"G-Gah! I don't!" Kain said once again.

"How pathetic…" Cobra said from his cell, listening to the interrogation while shaking his head. "Cowering in fear…"

"Stay out of this, Cobra," Lahar said from afar.

"Oh, don't mind me…I'm just listening to the idiots play…" Cobra replied as he closed his eye.

Ignoring the poison dragon slayer, Doma went over to the next two members, Hades and Bluenote. "You two know, don't you?"

"You may have me captured, but you won't get any information from me," Hades replied.

"It is as he says," Bluenote nodded slowly.

"Wanna be stubborn, eh?" Odin asked.

"It matters not," Aoy replied. "They will appear soon enough…as for you three…your execution will be soon."

"Execution…?" Hades asked while raising a brow.

"You three have done horrible things, and attacking Council members is one of them. Your crimes can only be matched with a punishment just as bad," Aloy replied. "We missed our chance to arrest you seven years ago, but we have you now." Hades just remained calm, he already died before, so he really had nothing to fear from a bunch of council members, but the old man knew when to keep his mouth shut, so he just nodded.

"I don't remember saying anything about this!" Doma said as he looked towards Aloy.

"Then what do you suggest, hm?" Aloy asked. "Allow those who made a mockery of us to continue living? I think not."

"W…We…we're going to have a discussion about this, understand?" Doma growled slightly.

"As you wish," Aloy replied with a simple nod.

.

.

"What's this plan you're going on about, Master?" Ultear asked, clearly out of the loop.

"Ah, yes, you were out when we were discussing it," Jikan said with a nod. "It's quite simple, really."

"All ears," Ultear replied.

"You see, after the attack on Grimoire Heart, the Council's recovery has been a slow, and steady process," Jikan started.

"Don't we have Aloy there, though?" Byron asked.

"That is correct," Jikan nodded. "Aloysius' thought project; Head Captain Aloy, has been our eyes and ears in the Council for quite some time now. And now, it's the perfect time to strike."

"What do you mean?" Ultear asked.

"The Council was unable to defeat any member from Grimoire Heart when they attacked," Aloysius started, continuing for Jikan. "Furthermore, the Council was unable to protect the very people they swore to protect."

"Needless to say," Jikan said as he took over for Aloy. "The people's trust in the Council has begun to waver, thus making the Council weak it both numbers and in terms of credibility."

"Let's not forget that assassin roaming around…" Myuu said quietly, her speaking up actually reminding the other members that she was there.

"Oh…almost forgot about her…" Byron mumbled under his breath as he looked off to the side.

"Ah, yes, thank you for refreshing my memory," Jikan said with a nod. "People have been dying under the protective and watchful eye of the Council; even more of a reason for us to use this opportunity to our advantage."

"And what is the opportunity you are speaking of…?" Ultear asked as she raised a brow, looking towards Jikan and Aloysius with an interested look.

"We need someone who can rule the Council with an iron fist, and restore their lost glory…also, someone we can manipulate practically at anytime…" Jikan said as a smirk started to form across his lips. "Unfortunately, we missed our first chance to get this person, but I believe now is a better time to do so anyway…"

"Wait…who is this mystery person?" Byron asked. "I don't believe you've ever said the same, Master."

"Oh, I didn't? How careless of me…" Jikan shook his head slightly. "The person we need to rule Fiore with an iron fist is none other than the former wizard saint himself; Siegrain."

.

.

Evanee arrived at a large cave entrance, raising a brow somewhat at the dampness of the stones under her feet. "Hmm…This seems to be the place…"

"Oh my…" Gaia said as she and Alex approached Evanee. "What are you doing here, little girl? This isn't a place for people like you."

"Yeah!" Alex said as placed her hands behind her back. "The monster here is dangerous, so please, allow us to do the job, and you can run along home!"

Evanee scowled noticeably at the attitude of the two mages before her, highly annoyed that she was just called a little girl. "Excuse you?" Evanee started as she rested her hands on her hips. "I am not a child, and I am more than capable of handling myself."

"Ah…I've heard many children say that before…" Gaia said with a slight chuckle before patting Evanee's head, which Evanee thought was rather condescending, so she slapped Gaia's hand away with a grimace. "Wow…rude…"

"Don't treat Gaia-chan like that!" Alex flailed her arms. "She was only trying to watch out for you!"

"I just told you I'm not a child." Evanee said in a highly annoyed tone.

"Then what are you, dear?" Gaia asked once again, deciding to play along with what she thought was a child's attempt to prove their worth and fight a monster.

"My name is Evanee, and I am the ace of the guild, Twilight Zone." Evanee said, rather short too as she started to walk inside, but Gaia grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her back, which Evanee immediately responded by pulling her arm away. "Don't touch me."

Gaia completely ignored Evanee's demand as she looked the girl over, quite interested now. "Oh…the Stone Dragon Slayer…I've heard of you."

"Isn't she the one who defeated Bluenote a few days ago!?" Alex asked with a slight gasp.

"I'm surprised people have heard of it…" Evanee shrugged slightly before turning around. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to."

"Ah, so do we!" Gaia said as she clapped her hands together, her usual stern attitude clearly nonexistent at this point, but it was clearly replaced by something else. "I am Gaia, the SS class mage of Cosmic Star, and this is my fellow member, Alex, an S class mage of the very same guild."

"Wonderful." Evanee said as she started to walk inside the cave.

"Your scent…" Gaia said quietly, but just loud enough for Evanee's ears to hear. Evanee stopped, but she didn't turn around. "You were raised by that dragon…" A quiet snicker escaped Gaia's mouth, but she did well to hide it. "Interesting…" With a groan of annoyance, Evanee walked inside the cave, leaving Gaia and Alex outside. "Let's see how strong your foster daughter has become, Stalagmus…"

"Huh…?" Alex looked up to Gaia with a somewhat confused look. "Did you say something…? Do you know that female…?"

"Hm?" Gaia looked down to Alex, and then rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish, yet partially serious laugh. "Oh…you could say I know OF her…but this is the first time we've actually met. I'm curious to see what she can do, since she slayed that dragon…"

"I'm confused…well…kinda…." Alex sighed defeatedly.

"I'm sorry, let's just go, and see what she can do." Gaia said with a nod, and walked into the cave with Alex following right behind her.


	29. Chapter 29: Negotiations and Rivalry

"You sure you're okay, Blues?" Bacchus asked the water dragon slayer.

"Oi, I'm fine, don't worry!" Blues waved a hand, attempting to show his injury was nothing. The injury he had was a constant reminder of the battle with Rustyrose. What was his injury? An X scar over his right eye from when he protected Twilight Zone's water dragon slayer, Melanie Hasani from Rustyrose's attack.

"That's a pretty nasty scar…" Warcry said, starting to cry randomly just from the sight of it. "The sight of it just makes me want to cry!"

"No! NO TEARS!" Blues shouted. He then looked at Warcry with a "eue" short of loko as he got an idea. "Wait…If I drink your tears….will I get stronger?"

"…That's a weird idea…" Yeagar said with a slight sigh.

"You have to admit, it's worth a try!" Blues said defensively.

"Sounds wild…I'd try it!" Kuro, the water god slayer, said.

"Sometimes I wonder about you two…" Goldmine said with a sigh.

"We can't help it that water is the best thing ever!" Kuro and Blues said in unison.

"I think there's a line…" Rocker coughed.

.

.

The sun started set, and within a nearby forest, Jellal and Meredy started to build a fire as they started to plan out their next move after the incident with Silent Sanctum. "Grimoire Heart has gone down…" Meredy started. "That takes care of one problem…"

"That is true," Jellal nodded in agreement as he rested his back against a tree. "But…we still have the issue of Silent Sanctum…"

"They still have Ul…" Meredy said as she looked down at the ground, fighting back tears.

"Don't worry…they may have Ultear for now…but we'll get her back." Jellal said in a reassuring tone. A few seconds later, a familiar voice echoed through Jellal's ears, causing him to perk up. "That voice…?"

"You ain't ready…" The voice said, slowly getting louder.

"…MOVE!" Jellal jumped forward, tackling Meredy to the ground just as Byron appeared where Jellal was standing with his Explosive Hammer.

"For the big bang!" Byron swung at the tree, causing a large explosion after impact. Byron then landed and turned with his hammer in both hands, smirking over to the two independent mages.

"W-What!? Again!?" Meredy shouted as she and Jellal stood up.

"Oh, it's not just me this time…" Byron smirked as Horoki, Myuu, Veronica, Aloysius, Ultear, and Jikan walked in from the surrounding area, thus circling around the two mages.

"U-Ul!" Meredy's eyes widened at the sight of her mother figure.

"I wouldn't recommend going near her at the moment," Jikan said while shaking his head.

"Now then, we can either make this quick and easy, or long and painful, either way, we're getting what we want," Horoki said while taking a puff of his cigarette.

"And what is you want?" Jellal asked while narrowing his eyes, quickly thinking of a way to get out of this current predicament.

"We want Siegrain." Jikan replied.

"What!?" Jellal's eyes widened at the request of the Silent Sanctum master. "Are you mad!?"

"You heard the man!" Veronica said. "Siegrain, now."

"We want Ultear!" Meredy shouted, not keeping her eyes off the time ark mage for a second.

"You hear this girl!?" Byron let out a hearty laugh at Meredy's request.

"What's so funny…?!" Meredy turned her attention over to Byron, confused as to why her request was funny to him.

"There is no feasible way to get Ultear back to how she was when she was with you." Jikan said. "In fact, there are only two ways to return her to normal, and it's quite impossible for the two of you."

"What are the ways…?" Meredy asked, her eyes locked on Jikan's.

"There is no easy way; in fact, the hardest one would be killing me…" Jikan started, and within that very same instant, Meredy used her Magulity Sense magic to form a sensory link between her and Jikan. This didn't catch anyone off guard at first, but in the next second, Meredy formed a sensory blade, pointing it directly at her chest.

"Kill you, huh?" Meredy said with a serious expression on her face.

"W-What the hell?!" Veronica's eyes widened.

"I don't think you want to go through with this, Meredy," Ultear said.

"Screw that…!" Aloysius snapped his fingers, creating green magic circles on Meredy's body as he prepared himself to use his Rapture Magic.

"Aloy, no!" Jikan shouted.

"Too late!" Meredy used Aloysius' own action against him. That split second Aloysius was ready to attack Meredy to protect Jikan was a sense of emotion, and she used this to form a link between the three of them, all while the sensory blade still pointed at Meredy.

"That girl's crazy!" Veronica shouted while her eyes widened in surprise.

"Meredy!" Jellal shouted, clearly taken aback by the girl's actions.

"I suppose that was terrible planning on my part…" Jikan said with obvious regret in his decision. "But…you're really willing to risk your life for the sake of Ultear?" Jikan asked while raising a brow.

"She risked her life for us…" Meredy replied, her tone matching her serious expression. "I will do anything to make sure Ul is safe…even if it means my life."

"She's serious…" Horoki said while watching intently, keeping his eyes on Jellal in case the heavenly mage decided to do something, but it seemed highly unlikely that he wouldn't.

"Well, well…isn't this quite the predicament we've gotten ourselves into…" Jikan said quietly while Ultear just looked on. "Fine…I suppose I'll play this little game with you, Meredy."

"G-Game…?" Meredy narrowed her eyes at Jikan. "What's what supposed to mean…?"

"We both have something the other wants…not just wants, that's a bad word to use. We both have something the other needs, yes?" Jikan asked. "So, in this case, it's a game of negotiation. You need Ultear, we need Siegrain."

"And just why do you need Siegrain?" Jellal asked.

"The Council is weakened; no one has faith in them anymore. What better a man to lead the Council to its former glory than Siegrain?"

"For some reason I don't think you're doing this for the wellbeing of Fiore…" Jellal replied.

"You know…the one with the sword pointed at herself usually gets what she wants in this situation…" Veronica said while filing her nails.

"I can see that, too," Jikan replied.

"Should we hand over Milkovich?" Aloysius asked.

"It appears we have little choice," Jikan said with a slight sigh. "But, we want Siegrain before we leave."

"Return Ultear…and I'll give you Siegrain." Jellal said, not wanting Meredy to put her life at risk should the plan backfire.

"Well, if that's how you want it…" Jikan started as a smirk started to form on his lips.

"We want her at her current age too!" Meredy interject, thus catching the dark mages off guard slightly.

"Wha…that was quick…" Bryon grunted slightly.

"We've dealt with your kind before," Jellal said. "How are we supposed to know you won't turn her back into that old woman before handing her over?"

"And you can't bother us when we leave!" Meredy added in quickly.

"Clever…clever…" Jikan nodded somewhat respectfully to the deduction to two independent mages came to. "Alright, alright, I will return Ultear to you, good, and at her original age. But I want to see Siegrain first." Jellal looked over at Meredy, then Ultear, and then nodded with a slight sigh. A few minutes passed, and the thought projection known as Siegrain appeared next to Jellal, much to Silent Sanctum's joy. And Jikan kept to his word, releasing Ultear from the dark lacrima he implanted inside her body a while ago, destroying it, allowing Ultear free reign once again.

"Ul!" Meredy immediately vanquished the sensory link around her, Jikan, and Aloysius, and then hugged Ultear tightly, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I-I missed you!"

"M-Meredy…Jellal…" Ultear hugged the pinkette back, feeling horrible for her actions.

"Ah…it's good to be back…" Siegrain grinned slightly. "Now…if you'll excuse me…I believe I have a Council to take charge of…"

"Yes, Siegrain…take hold of the Council for us…we have someone waiting for you when you get there…" Aloysius said with a devious smirk. Siegrain nodded to Aloysius, and then proceeded to walk off.

"Now, get out of my sight before I decide to kill you," Jikan said. The three independent mages nodded, and then quickly made their escape.

"Now what, Master?" Veronica asked. "Wasn't she important for later!?"

"Actually, my pupil…" Jikan started as he turned around. "That all went just as well as I thought it would…it actually went perfect."

"Perfect?!" Bryon asked.

"Though he agreed to it, Jellal did not want to create Siegrain once again, meaning that Siegrain was created due to negative emotions, not positive. In the end, even though Jellal may have fooled himself into being a good mage, Siegrain won't exactly be the nicest Councilman, which is exactly what we want."

"So…we went through the trouble of finding Ultear…just to hand her back?" Horoki asked for confirmation.

Jikan shook his head, waving finger. "Oh no…I still have plans for her…they just wouldn't have been complete without Siegrain to take charge…now we just sit and wait."

.

.

Lyon sat in a secluded area on the shoreline, near a cave, to be more precise. He stepped out of the cave and looked on to the ocean, remembering the events seven years ago just before he joined Lamia Scale. "I will carry out your will…" Lyon said to the ocean as he clenched his fist. "As the star pupil, I have to."

A few minutes later, a portal opened up, and Rugal stepped out with a funny looking container in his hands. "Hm…he just needs a little bit, yes…"

"Who are you?" Lyon asked, surprised by the sudden appearance.

"None of your concern," Rugal replied. "I am simply here to gather the remains of Ur Milkovich."

"You will do no such thing!" Lyon shouted. "She is with the ocean now, and I won't allow anyone to disturb her long rest."

"I don't think you heard me…" Rugal sighed slightly, placing the container back in his pockets as he immediately started to scout Lyon in his head. "Judging by his attitude, I can tell he must've been a student of this woman…meaning I can expect ice magic…" Rugal thought to himself as Lyon slid into his Ice Make pose.

.

.

"GAH!" Evanee, in her Stone Drive, crashed into the rocky cave ground hard on her back, unable to help but let out a minor yelp of pain. Evanee was facing off against a large ogre with a battle axe in hand, and Evanee quickly realized how this was a task for only an SS class mage. Evanee jumped up quickly, and allowed stones to encase her arms as she jumped forward once again.

"She's really going at it…" Alex said to Gaia, who was watching Evanee fight from the sidelines.

"I can see the power…but I don't think she's quite strong enough to perform such a daunting task on her own…" Gaia sighed slightly.

"Well…this is our job too! We can't let her take all the credit!" Alex huffed.

"Yes, yes, you're right," Gaia nodded. "Alex, go assist her, if you would be so kind."

"Yes, Gaia-chan!" Alex nodded cheerfully, and then jumped forward, extending her arm as it turned into an inhuman shape, literally extending towards the ogre with a claw on the tip, stabbing the ogre with it, causing it to let out a cry of pain as it looked over its shoulder, enraged at Alex. "Uh oh…" Alex squeaked before the ogre gripped her extended arm, pulling out her arm from its back, then swung Alex around wildly, slamming her down on the ground after. "Ugh…"

"Stone Dragon's Roar!" Evanee threw her head forward, unleashing a whirlwind of stones that struck the distracted ogre, resulting in massive cuts to appear on its back. The ogre turned once again, raising its axe high above its head. Evanee let out a quick gasp as she rolled to the side as the axe came down, surprised that the blow ripped the ground in half, splitting it apart.

"That this is crazy strong…" Alex said as she rubbed her head, groaning slightly. "But…!" Alex then held her arms at her sides, the black substance covering the upper part of her arms, but her hands now morphed into dangerous claws. "I can take it!"

"You're not even the SS class mage here…" Evanee commented as the ogre looked at the two females.

"She's not using Dragon Force…Does she think she can win without it?" Gaia thought to herself.

"What are you…?" Evanee asked Alex as she glanced at the claws.

"Just your average S class mage!" Alex replied, winking after. Alex then jumped into the air, clawing at the ogre furiously, creating multiple deep cuts all over its face. After having enough, the ogre swatted Alex away using all of its strength, and knocked the girl into a stalagmite, knocking her out as a result.

"Alex that offense was great until you got greedy…" Gaia sighed.

"Are you going to just stand by and watch or are you going to do something, Ms. SS class?" Evanee asked as she evaded another strike from the ogre's axe.

"You really want me to do something, little girl?" Gaia asked with a yawn.

"I am not a little girl!" Evanee shouted, narrowly avoiding an incoming swing. But, Evanee landed on the tip of the axe, then jumped forward, swinging her leg at the ogre's face, landing a direct hit at the ogre stumbled back into a wall, breaking the rock behind it.

"I'm not too sure about that, Ev…" Gaia said.

"What did you just call me…?" Evanee asked, raising a brow to make sure she heard Gaia correctly.

"Ev." Gaia replied. "Evanee is kinda long for my taste, so I prefer Ev."

"Don't call me that," Evanee replied with a scowl.

"Oh well Ev, I guess you wouldn't listen to me if I said…" Gaia started, but then the giant ogre rose from the ground once again, swiping its hand at Evanee, the speed obviously catching her off guard as she slammed into a nearby wall, falling to the ground on her face after. "Oh ouch…"

"Tch…" Evanee mumbled under her breath as she attempted to get up, but before she could, the ogre picked her up, and held her tightly within its hand, practically constricting her. "D-Dammit…!"

"Come now, I'm sure you can do something about this…" Gaia said as she watched Evanee.

"I can't breathe…" Evanee replied in a low voice, trying to draw enough air for another roar, but she was unable to.

"Really…? Nothing?" Gaia asked once again, highly disappointed in the mage.

"I can't even move…!" Evanee managed to shout.

"Oh FINE…" Gaia sighed, and then started to suck in breath of her own. "Earth Roar…" Gaia then threw her head forward, unleashing what was essentially a stone dragon's roar, but much more powerful as the rocks struck the golem, causing it to release Evanee and fall on its butt. Evanee landed on the ground, panting heavily as she gasped for air, standing up straight after a few seconds, cutting her eyes towards Gaia.

"This is the thanks I get for attacking…?" Gaia asked as she eyed Evanee.

"Took you long enough…" Evanee replied as she eyed the golem, who was half conscious.

"Just remember, you're alive because of my help~" Gaia said tauntingly.

"I didn't need your help…!" Evanee replied.

"Sure, kiddo, sure…" Gaia patted Evanee's shoulder a few times, much to the annoyance of the stone dragon slayer. "Now, watch how a REAL earth mage works…" Gaia held her arm out the side, morphing it into a sharp stone blade. "Earth Blade."

"What the…!?" Evanee said as her eyes widened.

Gaia then rushed forward, ruthlessly plunging her blade into the ogre's stomach, slicing it in half, killing the beast. "Mmm…" Gaia sniffed the air, her nose invaded by the scent of blood, which drove her wild. "Smells great…"

"Gaia-chan, you did it!" Alex shouted as she limped over to the ace.

"Hm?" Gaia shook her head, snapping out of her little trance as she smiled at Alex warmly. "Oh, yes, I did!"

"Tch…" Evanee crossed her arms, allowing her stone drive state to fade. Gaia and Alex then walked over to Evanee after.

"So…Twilight Zone as weak as you are…?" Gaia asked in a serious tone.

"E-Excuse you!?" Evanee asked, enraged by such a question.

"You heard her!" Alex said in an innocent, cheery tone.

"You couldn't even take down a simple beast such as that…it didn't take me much effort at all…" Gaia replied while examining her arm. "I had to waste magic getting you out of that little jam…"

"Which only happened because you were distracting me…" Evanee replied, attempting to keep her cool, but her eyebrows started twitching, which was a signal saying she wouldn't be able to much longer.

"Excuses, excuses…after seeing that performance, it's a wonder how you defeated Bluenote Stinger…" Gaia sighed. "I guess the guild just has one barely decent mage after all, Alex."

Evanee wasn't going to stand there and take the verbal abuse from Gaia, so she encased her dominant arm in stones, and swung towards Gaia, but to Evanee's surprise, Gaia blocked the caught her fist, though she winced just slightly from the impact of it nonetheless "What…" Evanee thought to herself.

"My, my…that probably would've tickled it if actually hit…" Gaia said with a condescending giggle. "It's okay, little girl…I guess your guild isn't as strong as everyone thought them to believe…" With a shrug, Gaia backed off, and then turned to Alex. "Are you ready to go?"

"Haiii!" Alex nodded, and started to skip out of the cave.

Gaia also started to leave, but she stopped so she could say one more thing to Evanee. "Oh…and I can say with the upmost certainty…your dragon was a failure of a dragon, and a horrible teacher…A shame, really…"

Evanee's eyes widened immensely at this comment, and she turned, firing off a Stone Dragon's roar at Gaia…but the female was already gone…


	30. Chapter 30

Evanee walked into Twilight Zone with an obviously irritated look on her face, noted by the slamming of the front doors when she walked inside, but she did have a bag of jewel in her hand. Evanee rested the bag of jewels on the table nearby and took a deep breath in order to calm herself. "Gaia…" She said to herself quietly, the flash back of the incident in the cave playing nonstop in her head.

"Welcome back, Evanee," Rylo said with a nod and a subtle smile. Though Evanee was in a horrible mood, she gave a respectful nod towards Rylo.

"Rylo." Evanee said before just walking up to her room.

"She seems upset…" Flynn said as he walked inside with a book in his hands.

"I wonder what's bothering her…" Rylo gave a slight shrug after, and then eyed the book in Flynn's hands. "You can read?"

"…Yes." Flynn replied, rolling his eyes after. "It's a book on the elements. I'm going to see if I can incorporate them in my fighting."

"Hm…well, good luck with that." Rylo gave a slight nod, walking into the kitchen after to feast on a cherry pie he had been looking forward to consuming all day.

.

.

"That lady was really mean!" Alex said as she and Gaia walked through the doors of Cosmic Star.

"I don't see what her issue was," Gaia sighed, but then shrugged after. "Oh well, at least we know that guild isn't as strong as everyone thinks they are."

"Making new friends?" Daryan asked as the two females walked in.

"Oh, we just met the ace of Twilight Zone, that's all," Gaia replied while waving a dismissive hand. "She was quite rude, and she wasn't that strong at all…it's a wonder how she managed to defeat Bluenote Stinger…but then again, he might not be as powerful as everyone believes too…"

"…Was she rude because you were condescending?" Yakuza asked while raising a brow.

"Of course not!" Alex said defensively. "Gaia-chan was just being herself! That Evanee lady was so rude. After Gaia was nice enough to help her out, she had the audacity to attack Gaia!"

"I just made a few remarks, and she took them the wrong way, probably on purpose…" Gaia shrugged.

"It's hard to tell with you sometimes, but I suppose it doesn't matter. If they aren't strong, I don't think they'll be an issue when we compete for top guild in Fiore." Daryan said.

"You know," Alex started with a sigh. "Whenever the old man gets back…" Alex then perked up, realizing something. "Oooooh! Hey! Where's the newest issue of-!"

"Magnus went out to get it," Daryan replied. "He should be back within an hour or so."

.

.

"It's shot day, remember guys?" Aira said with a joyous tone as she dressed herself in a nurse outfit. "The infirmary is open all day today, so come on in and I'll give you a shot!"

"I just remembered I had something to do today…" Zalen said as he took a few steps back.

"Afraid of needles, Zalen…?" Sidney sighed, and his response caused Aira to approach the ghost mage, a needle in her hands. "…You touch me with that needle and I can guarantee you'll become a spirit."

"That's just the fear talking!" Aira nodded as she inched the needle closer and closer towards Sidney.

"…I'm a busy mage." Sidney said as he vanished in a puff of purple smoke.

"Aw…" Aira pouted slightly, and then looked around the room in search for another member, when she laid her eyes on Selene, who was sitting on the couch, minding her own business. "Seleeneeeeee! It's shot timmmme!"

"Wait, what?" Selene blinked as she heard her named called, turning after to see Aira approaching her with the needle. "No thanks…!" Selene quickly covered her body in diamonds, so when Aira went to inject the needle in Selene's arm, the needle point shattered.

"Selenee…" Aira pouted.

"No one wants a shot, Aira," Cygnus said from afar, making sure to keep his distance.

"You'll all get sick if you don't take one!" Aira protested.

"Pssh…no one gets sick around here!" Cygnus said…only to cough and sneeze after. "That means nothing…"

A sinister twinkle appeared in Aira's green eyes as she held another needle, inching her way towards the gravity demi-god. "What was that, Cyg?"

"Is it safe to come out…?" Nami said as she poked her head from around the corner, quite glad Cygnus was now Aira's target instead of her or anyone else.

"A little needle never hurt anyone…" Luke said as he walked out of the kitchen with a bag of chips in his hands.

"So you want a shot then!?" Aira asked with sparkles in her eyes as she inched her way towards Luke.

"…So I'm going out into town anyone want something!?" Luke asked as he backed away to the front door. "No? Okay!" Luke then dashed out the front doors, speeding down the mountain trail.

"Why doesn't anyone like needles…?" Aira said with a pout.

.

.

"Ice Make: Eagle!" A cyan magic seal appeared in front of Lyon, which then fired off multiple eagles made of ice flying towards Rugal.

"Dynamic Ice Make…" Rugal said to himself as the eagles came flying in. "Just like Kiora's dynamic Shadow Make…" Rugal then snapped into battle mode as a large portal appeared in front of him, which he allowed the eagles to fly through, and the portal closed after, leaving Lyon standing there with widened eyes.

"W-What the…?" Lyon was obviously surprised by the sudden portal, but he didn't let that stop him from defending Ur. "Tch…What kind of magic…" Lyon then formed another seal in front of him. "Ice Make, Dragon Fly!" From the magic circle, several dragonflies flew towards Rugal, attempting to attack him from all angles, thus splitting off as a result.

"Interesting plan…" Rugal said as portals appeared all around him, all the dragonflies going through, leaving Rugal unscathed as a result. "Now it's my turn…" Rugal pulled the katana from his back, and then slashed the air a few times. Though this move seemed stupid, Rugal's katana actually sent multiple, invisible wind slashes towards Lyon. Lyon was unable to detect such slashes until they actually struck him, leaving him with multiple lacerations on his chest, arms, and all over his body.

"What the…?" Lyon shook his head, and then decided to go on the offensive once more. "Ice Make: Ape!" A large ice ape then appeared in front of Lyon, which charged towards Rugal. Though Rugal hadn't no worries, but instead he smirked. Rugal dashed forward with his katana still in hand, and when the ape swung its heavy fist towards him, he slashed through it with easy, easier than butter, perhaps. Rugal then opened two portals, one unleashed the ice eagles from earlier, and the dragonflies. "Impossible…" Lyon held his hand out, creating an ice shield. "Ice make: shield!" Lyon's previous attacks slammed into the shield, easily shattering it after a few impacts, and Lyon hit the ground, tumbling for a few seconds. "Dammit…"

Rugal ignored Lyon now, and pulled out the strange container once again, scooping up a decent amount of sea water. "I've come for what I wanted, next time don't expect to get off so easily." Rugal said as a portal appeared in front of him, and he stepped inside.

.

.

Luke wandered through the streets of Magnolia, letting out a sigh of relief as he did so. "I hate needles…" Luke continued walking, deciding he would kill some time by taking a quick tour of the city. After walking for a bit, he bumped into a female's shoulder, and felt a burning sensation running through his body. "G-Gah…!"

Maggie turned around with a slightly irritated look. "Watch where you're going."

"…I feel like this kind of thing has happened before…" Luke said as she rubbed his shoulder, and then looked towards Maggie, but it was a friendly look. "Oh, hey, Amelia! Sorry about that…"

"Oh, it's just him…" Maggie thought to herself as she put on a fake, yet convincing, friendly smile. "Hey, Luke." Luke considers himself friends with Maggie; however, this is not the case for several reasons. To start off, Maggie went by the name Amelia, secondly, Luke has no idea of her affiliation with Tartaros, and that she's using him as an outlet for information about both Fairy Tail and White Eclipse, and third, she uses him for free food, since he's kind enough to offer her chips since he believes they're friends. The two continued a random conversation for a few minutes before a third part intruppted, accidentally knocking into Luke.

"Oi, watch it, amigo…" Luke said in a slightly irritated tone.

Magnus shook his head slightly. "Oh, my apologies…" Magnus said as he turned around, only to spot the copycat he disliked highly. "…On second thought, I take that back…"

"Excuse you…?" Luke asked while raising a brow.

"You heard me, copycat," Magnus replied while picking up the shopping bag he dropped.

"Friend of yours?" Maggie asked while crossing her arms.

"We've met once…?" Luke said.

"A mission a while ago, however, I don't talk with those I don't think should be mages…" Magnus replied with an entirely serious tone.

"What!?" Luke narrowed his eyes toward Magnus. "Did you just imply I shouldn't be a mage!?"

"I didn't imply it, Cloud," Magnus said. "I said it."

"Oh yeah? Well how about I show you the skill that got me into the S class exams for White Eclipse a while back, huh?" Luke said, obviously ready to fight.

"I'm not wasting my time with you," Magnus said as he merely turned around, and walked off. "White Eclipse is nothing but a bunch of mages whose ego inflates with every win against Fairy Tail…anyone could beat a Fairy, it's nothing to get so excited about…"

"Oh that is it you little…!" Luke jumped forward, his fist reared back as he aimed a punch to the back of Magnus' head, but Magnus simply moved his head to the side, and kept walking. "The hell…!?"

"You missed…" Maggie said, holding back a snicker at Luke's failed attempt.

"…I noticed…" Luke said in agitation.

.

.

"Where'd Maggie-chan go? She's gonna miss all the fun," Sora said as Rugal poured the water he collected earlier onto the middle of the resurrection floor.

"Depends…I have a feeling I won't like this woman," Kiora said while folding her arms. "What kinda name is Ur anyway?"

"She is a powerful mage from what I've heard," Tobias said.

"Shut up, Tobias," Ruika said. "She's a powerful mage, but she wasted all of her talent on a simple molding magic…it's highly disappointing…"

"We'll see about that," Daityas said as he started to prepare the ritual. "I believe her talent could be useful for our operation."

"I doubt that…" Ruika said with confidence, but her tone caused Daityas to turn to her.

"Repeat that?" Daityas said, not quite in a demanding tone, but it was a chance for Ruika to change what she said.

"I said whatever you think is best…" Ruika replied.

"That's what I thought…" Daityas said as he turned to the small puddle of water in front of him, shaking his head with a sarcastic laugh. "My…how the mighty fall sometimes…" The torches around the room started to lit up in particular flames; not any flames, hell's flames. Daityas then began to speak an incantation, but it was different then the one he used to revive Zancrow and Azuma with.

"This one is different…he said something else when he revived Azuma…" Zancrow said as he whispered over to Rustyrose.

"That's because there's no body, I would assume," Rustyrose said as he watched the revival process carefully.

A few minutes passed, and the revival chant was complete. The puddle of water turned into a human body, and not just any human body, the body of Ur Milkovich…though something was different about the aura coming off her and the color of her eyes, which caused Daityas to smile. "Ah…it worked…"

"Oh, she's alive…" Kiora said with an uninterested yawn.

"Not just alive," Daityas said. "Anyone I revive returns to the world of the living, but only evil."

"So…This is Ur Mlikovich, eh…?" Tobias asked while tugging on his scarf.

Daityas' claim was a true one, as Ur turned to face Tobias, but it wasn't with a menacing look, it was more of an annoyed look. "Shut the fuck up you insignificant piece of trash." Ur said to Tobias, shocking the elemental mage to the point where he did shut up. "Ah…silence…" Ur said with a relaxed and content voice. She didn't even know Tobias' name, but she knew she preferred it if he didn't speak.

"…I take back what I said about her…I like her…" Kiora said with a slight grin.

"Well, isn't the little ice flower assertive…" Rustyrose said with a slight laugh.

"Why the hell was she a puddle?" Zancrow asked as the question just popped into his head.

"I wasted my life protecting someone," Ur replied to Zancrow.

Daityas stepped forward with his finger lit, the Tartaros symbol appearing on the tip of his finger in hell flames. "Now you've been given another chance at life, and you don't have to waste it for anyone every again."


	31. Chapter 31: Change Approaches

On the balcony of White Eclipse, Waiston and Jaxon faced off against each other, but not for a fight. It was a different type of challenge. "Are you ready?" Jaxon asked as a cool blue light started to emit from his body. "Remember, if I can make you shiver from the cold, you lose!"

"Hah, I'm ready!" Waiston said with a confident smirk on his face. "500 jewel goes to the winner, and I'm waiting for it!"

"Heh, we'll see about that, Waiston! Here we go!" Jaxon smirked, and the around the two started to drop considerably. A normal human would be quite cold at this point, as the temperature was below thirty, but the ice dragon slayer was just fine.

"Is that all you got?" Waiston asked as he looked around, the cold temperature not affecting him in the slightest. "It's still pretty warm, if you ask me."

"I'm just getting started, Waiston." Jaxon's smirk widened slightly as the blue glow around his body brightened, lowering the temperature as a result to about zero, yet Waiston seemed fine. In fact, he let out a relaxing sigh.

"This almost reminds me of Thundra!" Waiston said with a grin, which caused Jaxon's smirk to fade. "Might as well pack up and hand me the jewel, Jaxon. The cold is my element, and there's no beating me in my element!"

"Oh yeah?!" Jaxon, determined not to lose, decreased the temperature even further, to about 70 below zero, which would've caused a normal human to probably freeze over at this point but Waiston let out a grin.

"Ahhh…now this…THIS exactly what Thundra had…this is perfect…" Waiston let out a relaxed sigh.

"I know you're not completely immune to the cold, Waiston!" Jaxon said as he lowered the temperature to negative 120. Waiston seemed fine once again, but he slowly slid his hands into his pockets this time to keep them warm.

"You sure about that?" Waiston asked, keeping the grin on his face to divert from his hands in his pockets.

Jaxon saw it though, which caused him to smirk slightly as he continued to lower the temperature, covering parts of the balcony in ice. "Positive." The temperature continued to lower, eventually reaching negative 200 degrees. Waiston was starting to feel the cold hit him pretty hard at this point, but he covered his body in icy scales, providing him some defense against the cold.

"T-This is nothing…!" Waiston said, trying his best to prevent his teeth from chattering.

"I got you now…!" Jaxon said as the temperature lowered to at least negative 300, and a few seconds after, the icy scales on Waiston's body shattered, and the ice dragon slayer began to shiver tremendously.

"G-Gah…! You win! You win!" Waiston said as his teeth chattered and his body shook.

"Haha!" Jaxon grinned, the temperature quickly returning to normal. "I win!"

"Gah…" Waiston sighed, pulling out the payment and handed it over to Jaxon. "That's some serious cold you have there, Jaxon…" Waiston then smirked slightly.

Within his tower just on the side of the guild, Takeru trained in his tower, though he wasn't using any magic. Why? Because magic would only speed up the process of the predicament Takeru created for himself, which was his 9 month life span. Takeru knew he had to tell the guild about it, but he didn't want anyone to worry about him, so he kept it to himself, and Arc didn't say a word to anyone about it. After a few hours of training, Takeru sat on his bed and sighed somewhat, but he put on a slight smile.

.

.

Inside the now rebuilt Fairy Tail building, Gray (shirtless of course) gave a slight shiver. Such a thing caught attention from various guild members. "GRAY SHIVERED!" Happy exclaimed, pointing to the ice make mage with a shocked expression on his face.

"Yeah, so what?" Gray asked while crossing his arms.

"It means you can get cold!" Cynthia said, covering her open mouth with her hands.

"It wasn't a cold shiver!" Gray shouted.

"Then what was it?" Lucy asked curiously.

"It was…I dunno…I just had a bad feeling, that's all…" Gray said, but he gave a nonchalant shrug about it afterwards. "It was probably nothing…"

"Oh…! Oh, hey, I just remembered something…!" Cynthia said before pulling out an issue of Sorcerer's Weekly. "Did you guys hear about those two guilds popping up?!"

"Two guilds?" Natsu asked while crossing his arms.

"It's all in here!" Cynthia said as she opened up the magazine, pointing to the article about Twilight Zone and Cosmic Star. "Two new guilds!"

"…I remember him…" Erza said as she glanced at the picture of Daryan.

"Oh hey…he's the guy whose back was broken and didn't flinch after…" Lucy said as she glanced at the picture of Daryan along with Erza. "And he tried to flirt with me…" Lucy let out a sigh at the memory, shaking her head after.

"Twilight Zone?" Gray asked.

"Oh, that's where Wendy and I were before we came back. I heard their ace defeated Bluenote!" Cynthia said with a nod.

"They were very nice to treat us after our fight," Wendy said with a sweet smile.

"Their ace defeated Bluenote, eh…?" A smug grin appeared on Natsu's face as he placed a fist into an open palm confidently. "I wanna take him on!"

"…The ace is a girl, Natsu…" Cynthia said with a pale face.

"…Nani?" Natsu blinked a few times.

"I wonder about him sometimes…" Carla said with a sigh.

"Someone else defeated Bluenote, eh…?" Gildarts asked from the bar as he took a sip of his beer. He was sitting next to Makarov, Cana, and Mirajane, who was working the bar alongside Kinana.

"Yeah, I bet it would be a great fight if you two fought, Gildarts!" Cynthia nodded.

"There are a lot of SS class mages out there…" Gildarts said with a smirk. "Though, I do want a rematch with White Eclipse's Sidney before I take on anyone else."

"Keh, White Eclipse is nothing!" Natsu said with a confident grin. "We managed to keep our number one spot against them half a year ago, and we've only gotten stronger since then!"

"But…" Cynthia started as she placed her index finger on her chin, looking up slightly. "Don't they technically have more wins over us than we do them?" Cynthia's comment caused the lively guild to go silent, which made Cynthia feel like she was public enemy number one. "I'll just…slide away…" Cynthia then slid away into a corner, attempting to hide from the awkward tension she created.

"She's right though…" Kinana said as she cleaned out a glass mug. "White Eclipse is powerful…and it's been a while since there's been any tension between us."

"We were just getting warmed up," Makarov said in a reassuring tone to those who've lost. "Next time there is a fight between the two, which is something I wouldn't normally condone, one of you will win."

"Because Fairy Tail is number one!" The entire guild shouted in unison.

.

.

In Lamia Scale's infirmary, Chelia was using her Sky God Slayer magic to heal up the injured Lyon who walked through the doors not too long ago. "Lyon-sama…you're hurt pretty bad…what happened…?"

"Tch…" Lyon clenched his fist as he thought back to the battle. "I was visiting Ur…watching the ocean when a mysterious mage appeared. He wanted to disturb her rest, and I wasn't going to allow it…but he used some weird mage and got the best of me…" Lyon sighed, and then shivered slightly after as a chill slowly crawled its way up his spine.

"Are you okay…?" Chelia asked with the upmost concern.

"Yes…I'm fine…I just had a sudden chill for some reason…" Lyon replied.

"Alright, you just stay here and rest for a little, okay?" Chelia asked, though it was more of a demand than anything. Lyon nodded, and Chelia walked out of the infirmary, only to stop and scratch her ankle where her guild mark was. "Hn…" Chelia sat on a chair, and lowered her socks to reveal her guild mark. It was an itch that had been bothering her for a while, but she didn't notice anything wrong with it, nor was it something that was eradicable with the use of her sky god healing magic. "It's been annoying me since that fight…" Chelia thought to herself as she thought back to the job she took a while ago. "It's nothing…Probably nothing…"

.

.

Nightfall in the middle of a forest; Jellal, Meredy, and Ultear, finally reunited, sat around a camp fire made with fire, since Jellal was capable of using such magic. Jellal sighed heavily, still regretting the decision to create Siegrain once again. Ultear looked up at Jealle, but she couldn't look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Jellal…Meredy…" Ultear sighed.

"What are you apologizing for?" Jellal asked.

"I put you in Meredy in danger…and you recreated Siegrain even though you didn't want to…" Ultear responded.

"You're back, Ul, and that's all that matters…" Meredy replied. "I don't know why they want Siegrain…" Meredy then turned to Jellal. "Can't you just…get rid of Siegrain now?" Meredy asked somewhat hopefully.

"I wouldn't recommend that…" Ultear said.

"I was going to say the same thing," Jellal nodded. "If Siegrain vanishes, they'll know I was the one who removed him, and those mages are very powerful…I don't think we'll be able to take them all on our own."

"So we just let them toy with us…!?" Meredy asked, her voice rising somewhat.

"We'll lay low like we did before," Jellal replied. "I don't know what Siegrain might be up to now, but we can only wait…"

"I suppose so…" Ultear nodded slowly, and a few minutes later, a shiver crawled up her spine.

"Ul…? Are you alright…?" Meredy asked. "Do you need anything…?"

"I-I'm fine…" Ultear replied, looking up into the starry night sky. "What was that…?" She asked to herself.

.

.

Ur currently had her heel on Tobias' head, her hands on her hips as she looked down at him tauntingly. "Know your place, yeah?"

"I didn't…even do anything…!" Tobias protested.

"You're alive…" Ur replied with a disgusted tone before she kicked Tobias in the side, enough force to send him rolling away. The powerful ice make mage then dusted her hands off after, looking to Maggie and Kiora for a second, and then walking off.

"Oi, so this is that Ur Dait was talkin' about?" Maggie asked. "Because if so, I like the lass already."

"I can tell she's going to fit right in," Kiora said with a nod.

"Sora likes her!" Sora said while throwing her arms in the air happily. The pinkette then ran over to Ur with a happy face. "Will Ur play with Sora?"

Ur stared blankly at the child for a few seconds before giving a slight nod. "Alright, I can play with you, Sora, right?"

"And she gets along with the kids rather well," Maggie said with a slight nod.

"Oh, do I have some information for you all," Ruika said as she walked from seemingly nowhere to the two girls, ignoring Tobias completely even though she stepped on him.

"Oh?" Maggie asked while raising a brow. "What might that be?"

"It appears the Council may be getting a new look soon enough," Ruika nodded.

"The Council? The daft bastards couldn't even defeat that annoying nitwit, Zancrow." Maggie scoffed while looking to her nails. Somewhere off screen, Zancrow sneezed, setting a portion of the castle on fire, which he desperately attempted to put out because he thought Daityas would destroy him should he find out.

"Exactly," Ruika said. "But, I won't spoil the fun for you, because I'm sure it will all be revealed soon enough."

"Keeping us in the dark…?" Tobias mumbled with his face in the ground.

"SHUT UP TOBIAS!" The three females shouted in unison.

.

.

Siegrain approached the Magic Council building, fixing his suit slightly as a grin appeared on his face. "Ah…It's been quite some time, hasn't it?"


	32. Chapter 32: Prelude to Change

Siegrain walked inside the Magic Council building, looking around as he remised about the time he spent deceiving the people inside. "It's good to be back…" Siegrain said to himself with a slight smirk. He took a few steps farther inside, only to meet with several Council Guards, along with one of the captains, Lahar.

"J-Jellal!?" Lahar's eyes widened slightly, obviously mistaking the thought project formally known as a Wizard Saint for his counterpart. "What are you doing here?! Arrest that man!" Lahar pointed, and the Council guards complied, all of them equipping a weapon with various elements pertaining to each one.

"My my…" Siegrain shook his head slightly, unable to help but chuckle at Lahar's reaction. "Has it really been so long you've mistaken me for Jellal? Justice is a powerful thing, remember?"

"W-What…?" Lahar commanded the guards to stop, and then observed Siegrain before narrowing his eyes. "Siegrain…Why are you here?"

"I've heard the Council has taken a rather big hit in terms of numbers and creditably," Siegrain replied.

"That doesn't concern you," Lahar said, keeping his men at the ready.

"Actually, it does," Siegrain replied while placing his hands behind his back, and taking a few steps forward, now standing just a few feet away from Lahar. . "You see, Lahar, I am here because I want to return the Council its lost glory."

"How do we know you aren't working with Jellal, huh?" Lahar asked as he stared into Siegrain's eyes.

"Because I am nothing but an honest man, unlike Jellal, of course," Siegrain replied.

"I say we give him the benefit of the doubt," Head captain Aloy said as he approached the two.

"Aloy…?" Lahar turned to face Aloy, a look of disbelief on his face. "He's a wanted criminal!"

"Ah…but he is trying to make things right, is he not?" Aloy asked while crossing his arms. "He is merely thinking about the wellbeing of the people within Fiore, and the standing of the Magic Council, yes?"

"Well…that's true…" Lahar said as he looked down to the ground, thinking it over for a few seconds. "Fine…I'll allow him to take his business up with Gran Doma…but if he disagrees with this, you, and Jellal, are going behind bars, do you understand?"

"I understand," Siegrain said with a nod, and Lahar walked off, along with the Council guards. After Lahar left, Siegrain turned to Aloy with a slight nod. "So…You must be Aloy…I was told to look out for you when I arrived."

"That is correct, I am the head captain of the council guard, so this plan should go off without much trouble," Aloysius said with a nod and a slight smirk.

Siegrain started to lead the way towards Gran Doma's office. "Shall we then?"

In his cell, a faint smirk appeared on Cobra's face as he leaned his head back, listening to the events that were building up. "I can hear it…"

.

.

Back inside White Eclipse, things proceed to go as normal as they were any other day, with all the members conversing among one another, training on their own, sleeping, or in Jack Royal's case, drinking as if there was now tomorrow. Selene walked past Jack, groaning slightly as the intoxicating smell of alcohol filled her sensitive nose, causing her to pinch it and close the airways. "Ugh, that smell..." Selene mumbled as she used her free hand to wave the smell away.

"The best smell in the world, right?" Jack asked with a drunken grin.

"Hardly..." Selene replied while quickly making her way to the other side.

"Hey, Reve," Jaxon started as he walked over to the gunslinger.

"Hm? What is it, Jaxon?" Reve asked as he examined one of his guns.

"I was curious about the White Eclipse techniques a few of you have." The green-haired meteorology mage asked with curiosity. His question attracted the attention of a few other members around.

"Yeah..." Luke started as walked over to Reve and Jaxon, along with a few curious members. "I've only seen the Eclipse tower, used by Master and Sidney."

"He's also got the Eclipse Circle," Reve said with a slight nod. "That one packs a punch. He's got a lot more, but I won't spoil the surprise for you all, heh."

"Do you have any, cowboy?" Taya asked as she raised a brow.

"Heh, do I ever." Reve smirked as the gun in his hand vanished. The gunslinger then took a few steps back as his smirked widened. "Stand back, this one's a killer." Reve held his arms out, and within seconds, a bazooka patented with the White Eclipse symbol on the side appeared in his hands. "Say hello to this beauty, the Eclipse Cannon."

Aira looked at the bazooka with amazement, her eyes sparkling from such a masterpiece. "Whoa! Can you show us what a shot looks like?!"

"Sorry, no can do, Aira," Reve replied as he allowed the gun to vanish.

"Aw...! Why not?" Nami asked with a small pout.

"Because he made a promise not to use it," Jack said in a half serious, half drunk tone as he stood up from his seat, stumbling over to the small crowd.

"That's right," Reve said with a stern nod. "I'm only going to use it unless I absolutely have to, but seeing as how I haven't, I won't."

"That's somewhat boring..." Luke commented, and right after he did, Reve used his QuickDraw to point a pistol at Luke's head, shutting the copy mage up.

"Shouldn't you be in a maid outfit?" Reve asked with a condescending smirk.

"I still have the pictures from the last time," Taya said with a teasing tone.

"Oh, oh, I wanna see!" Skye and Nami said in unison with both cheery, innocent tones.

"Yup, I think I'm just gonna..." And with that, the copy mage started to leave, but then he remembered something. "Oh, yeah, that reminds me! We got two new guilds around making a name for themselves, slowly."

"Twilight Zone and Cosmic Star!" Aira said with a nod.

"I feel like I've heard those names before..." Zalen said as he fixed his glasses.

"I heard Twilight Zone's ace defeated Bluenote Stinger," Aira nodded.

"I would've had Bluenote if a certain time mage didn't get in our way..." Cygnus mumbled underneath his breath.

"I bet Sidney could take her no problem," Waiston nodded.

"There are a lot of SS class mages out there, I'm not invincible," Sidney commented as he suddenly appeared from nowhere.

"You could beat Gildarts!" Luke said. "You almost had him half a year ago, but that Cynthia..." Luke sighed, and somewhere off screen, Cynthia sneezed, accidentally setting Happy on fire.

"Dwelling on the past at this point is irrelevant," Sidney simply replied. "I'm keeping my eyes on that girl though..."

.

.

Magnus walked inside the Cosmic Star guild, holding a shopping bag in his hands. "Here," Magnus tossed Alex the latest issue of Sorcerers' Weekly. "They have the recent model pages in the middle somewhere."

"Don't lie, you know exactly where it is!" Alex said while poking her tongue out teasingly, and then started to skim through the magazine, stopping once she reached the model pages. "Jenny Realight...she's a goddess..." Alex said in an envious tone. "I wish I had a body like her..."

"You do, you just never show it off like they do," Gaia said with a shrug. "You're a beautiful girl, Alex, and a strong one."

"D'awww!" Alex's face lit up with a cheesy grin. "Oh! And then there's Mirajane Strauss...what I wouldn't do for-" Alex coughed and stopped herself as she realized how carried away she was getting. "So, Magnus! Meet any new friends?!"

"Just an annoying Copy mage who's friends with a rather suspicious mage..." Magnus replied.

"Copy mage?" Alex blinked a few times.

"Mages who have no right to be mages, because they are unable to come up with their own magic so they must copy other's to become strong. Plus he's a member of White Eclipse." Magnus sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The strongest guild in Fiore?" Alex blinked a few times.

"Technically, no. And even if they were, all they are doing is beating Fairy Tail, and overrated guild to begin with, and claiming it makes them the strongest." Magnus shrugged his shoulders with a deep sigh. "We'll show them, eventually."

"I'm interested to see what kinda mages they have there...perhaps I'll visit those three guilds later on." Gaia gave a nod. "I wanna see what kind of guilds they are~"

"Do everyone a favor and don't be so condescending..." Magnus said.

"Gaia-chan is just truthful!" Alex said defensively.

"Sure she is, Alex...sure she is..." Magnus sighed.

.

.

"You're not letting that Gaia chick get to you, eh?" Rylo asked a somewhat tempered Evanee.

"Of course not," Evanee replied plainly, taking a sip of strawberry milk to calm her nerves from earlier in the day.

"Kinda seems like it," Flynn commented.

"Who's bothering Evanee-chwan?!" Tsami asked as she poked her head into the main room.

"It's nothing," Evanee said to the others, her annoyance rising because she really didn't want to deal with anyone and she was slowly getting to the point of snapping. "The only things that bothers me about her is her attitude, and her scent."

"What's so special about her scent?" Rylo asked a raised brow.

"I'm not sure..." Evanee replied before walking towards her room. "Doesn't matter, I'm going to sleep now."

"She's the only person who's called her Ev and lived..." Rylo said in amazement.

"Let's not." Evanee replied just before entering her room.

"Doesn't matter if she's alive or not, Twilight Zone is much better than Cosmic Star!" Flynn said with a smirk, jogging in place because he had been staying still for too long.

"Exactly!" Rylo said with a smirk.

.

.

In the depth of a secluded forest, Silent Sanctum awaited the results of the recreation of Siegrain, and wondered when he would infiltrate the Magic Council to place it under their control. "No word yet...?" Byron asked as he started to drift off to sleep, but Veronica flicked a piece of silver at the red haired mage's head, waking the requip mage up, an annoyed look now on his face. "The hell was that for?!"

"No sleeping!" Veronica demanded.

"Did you just hit me with a piece of silver?" Byron asked.

Veronica nodded, using using her Telekinesis to lift the piece of silver back into her hands. "Yes, a very important piece of silver too, mind you."

"What's so important about it?" Horoki asked while leaning back on the couch.

"A special friend of mind made it for me. Her name is Melody Silver, and it's been over half a year since I've last seen her," Veronica said as she examined the piece of silver.

"I've heard that name before..." Myuu said from a seat nearby. "Wasn't she one of the one's who participated in the defeat of Titania 10 months ago or something?"

"That's right!" Veronica said with a proud smile. "We were in the same dark guild at the time, and she's the one who actually came up with the plan to defeat her. Melody dressed up as the client who request the job, then we led Titania into a trap!"

"I remember this story. Titania's rep took a nose dive after," Byron said.

"Yes, but then she was shot in the stomach by a stupid gun mage! It left a large scar in her stomach, and we nearly got arrested!" Veronica said, her voice rising with resentment. She also got a crush on some ice mage, but she grew out of it. The last time I saw her was before I joined Silent Sanctum, when she took a fall from a cliff..."

"What a heart breaking story..." Byron said as he sarcastically used his finger to wipe away tears.

"She's important to me, okay?! I may be a cold hearted bitch, but I has a soft spot for her, and I won't rest until I find her and bring her here!" Veronica said with a huff.

"It's good to know my pupils have something they all look forward to," Jikan said as he and Aloysius walked into the main room.

"Master Jikan, any word?" Horoki asked.

"Ah, yes," Aloysius said with a grin. "Expect a new government within the next few hours."


	33. Chapter 33: The New King

It was a calm, peaceful night in the country of Fiore. There was no trouble, and just about everyone around planned on calling it night. Even the always exuberant Fairy Tail guild started to die down, and some if the members began their departure to sleep and possibly prepare for jobs. Cynthia gave a yawn as she rested her head on a table, fighting to stay awake, but it was a battle she was quickly losing. "Uh...it's way past my bed time..." Cynthia said quietly as she yawned loudly.

"Maybe we should go to bed..." Wendy said as she stretched and yawned, obviously on the urge of passing out herself.

"Tomorrow could be a busy day; it would be wise to get some rest," Carla nodded.

"I suppose it's time to leave then, ne?" Mirajane asked as she cleaned the counter with a rag, looking over to the remaining, tired members who managed to stay.

"I like the peace and quiet this time of day," Makarov said while holding a mug in the air.

"I guess it's time to call it a night," Lucy yawned, using the back of her hand to rub her eyes tiredly. She then walked to the front doors and pushed them open, taking a few steps outside before stopping as a large lacrima screen appeared over the entire town if Magnolia. "Huh...? Hey, guys...look at this..." Lucy waved to the remaining members, urging them to come outside, which they did quickly. The lacrima screen over Magnolia wasn't the only one to appear; lacrima screens appeared all around the country, and an image slowly started to appear amongst the fuzz. A few seconds later, Siegrain's face appeared on the screens.

"Hello, people of Fiore!" Siegrain said with a smirk.

"Jellal?!" Natsu shouted.

"No...that's not Jellal..." Erza said in a low tone. "Siegrain..."

"What's he doing at the Magic Council?!" Makarov shouted, the remaining beer in his mug spilling out onto the ground as a result.

"Hey, guys, look at this!" Luke shouted from the White Eclipse balcony, causing the members to flood outside.

"Ugh...what are you shouting for this late at night...?" Kairi asked before looking up to the lacrima screens. "Who is that...?"

"Siegrain..." Reve said while crossing his arms.

"What's this about...?" Arc asked as he listened to the unfamiliar voice.

"This should be interesting..." Adam said quietly, taking a slight pause before continuing. "Whatever it is..."

.

.

"H-Hey...look!" Beth pointed to the sky, catching the attention of the Mermaid Heel guild members.

"W-What...?!" Kagura looked up, mistaking Siegrain for Jellal for a few seconds, but then realized it wouldn't be likely for Jellal to be in the Magic Council.

"J-Jellal...?!" Milliana's eyes widened with a mix of emotions, but when she looked at Kagura, she realized the emotion the two shared was nothing alike, so it had to be someone else.

"What's going on...?" Melody asked.

.

.

"Oi, what's this about...?" Sting asked tiredly as he rubbed his eyes, walking with his Exceed pal Lector to a balcony of Sabertooth.

"Who is that, Sting-kun?" Lector asked, looking towards the white dragon slayer with curiosity.

"I don't know, Lector...but I can tell it's going to be big since the Council is involved..." Sting replied.

.

.

"Oi, what the hell's going on...?" Bacchus asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Looks like some kinda announcement..." Blues said as he trudged out of his room in Qautro Cerberus, drinking a bottle of water after.

"Guess we get to see what it is..." Bacchus said while drinking from his gourd, obviously not caring that it was so late at night.

.

.

"Hm...Well, well..." Magnus looked into the sky as he stood on Comsic Star's roof, soon to be joined by the other four members.

"What the hell is going on...?" Daryan asked while rubbing his eyes and yawning tiredly.

"It appears we're going to have a new change in government..." Magnus replied.

"Did you know about this?" Alex asked, though she knew the answer was obvious.

Magnus, however, didn't answer the question, and instead continued to stare up at the screen. "It's a wonder what he plans to do..."

.

.

"What's with all the noise...?" Rylo asked as he looked outside, putting on his top hat as he glanced at the lacrima screens.

"What's going on...?" Melanie asked as she poked her heard outside .

.

.

"Ichiya-san, look at this!" Ren shouted as he pointed to the screens.

"What's with all the noise?" The Exceed and Edloas counter part of Ichiya, Nichiya asked as he walked soon the parfume mage.

"The parfarm in the air doesn't smell good..." Ichiya said in an ominous tone. "It smells like bad change..."

.

.

"THERE'S A STRANGER ON THE TV OOON!" Toby shouted from the front doors of the Lamia Scale guild, his shouting causing everyone to rush outside.

The master of Lamia Scale, Ooba Babasama, quickly grew annoyed with the yapping dog, and brought her hand up, twirling her finger, making Toby spin around as a result. "Hush, and listen to the announcement!"

"Siegrain?" Jura raised a brow, slightly interested, but he knew this wasn't going to end well in the long run.

.

.

"Well, well..." Daityas crossed his arms as he looked up at the screen. "So, that's what Silent Sanctum was planning all along..."

"What's going on?" Ur asked curiously, placing her hands on her hips. Normally, nothing was odd about this, but Ur was in nothing but her bra and panties, and her Tartaros mark was revealed to be on her upper thigh.

"What the bloody hell happened to your clothes?!" Maggie asked.

"What?" Ur blinked a few times before looking at herself, shrugging nonchalantly after.

"Put some clothes on, if you please..." Rugal asked as he averted his eyes from the senior Ice Make mage.

"...Too bad she's not a virgin..." Mithril mumbled to himself as he eyed Ur, well aware of the fact Ultear was her child.

Sora walked out slowly, in pajamas, rubbing her eyes. "Sora was sleeping..."

"Don't worry, this will be more than worth the awakening,". Daityas said as he crossed his arms. "Should they not fuck up."

"...Put some clothes on, Ur..." Kiora said as she slapped a hand on her face for a face palm.

"Please...we have a child watching..." Ruika said as she places her hands over Sora's eyes, resulting in the pink haired shadow manipulation mage to flail her arms around.

Ur let out a slightly annoyed sigh. "I'm not seeing what the big deal is..."

.

.

"Siegrain...!" Jellal jumped up, glaring at the thought projection he created.

"They were serious about it..." Ultear said as she glanced at the lacrima screen.

"What's going to happen now...?" Meredy asked quietly.

"I don't know," Jellal said quietly as he clenched a fist. "We just have to wait and see now..."

.

.

"Ah...it's finally begun..." Jikan said with a grin.

"It's about time, took him hours..." Byron said with a yawn. "I was about to fall asleep..."

"What now, master?" Veronica asked.

"We wait, and then we watch, as the government falls to our control..." Jikan replied as his grin widened.

.

.

"I am here tonight to address the current standing of the Magic Council..." Siegrain started as he placed his hands behind his back, walking back and forth as the lacrima kept track of him. "I am aware the Magic Council's standing has dropped due to the recent attack of Grimoire Heart, and this happened under the "protection" of Gran Doma and his men." Siegrain paused for a moment, allowing everyone to take in what he was saying before continuing. "Frankly, I can't say I blame you all for the sudden loss of trust, but, I am here tonight to tell you that starting as of right now, I, the Wizard Saint Siegrain, am taking control of the Magic Council as its new chairman!

"WHAT?!" Natsu shouted, forgetting that Siegrain couldn't hear him.

"Jellal, what are you thinking?!" Erza said aloud as she listened to Siegrain verbally taking control of not only the Magic Coucil, but Fiore slowly. "Releasing Siegrain like that..."

"That is not all!" Siegrain said with a friendly smile. "How do you know things will be different? I'm sure that's a question running through your heads right now, hm? Well, it's simple. I will start regaining your trust by hunting down the assassin who's murdered and threatened the lives of people within the town of Magnolia! Once we find the Assassin, I will show live broadcast of their execution!"

"The assassin, eh..." Cygnus scratched the back of his head.

Sidney stayed silent, but he took a quick glance at the tired Skye. "Hm..."

"Is he really doing this for the good of Fiore...?" Makarov asked, his suspicions rising quickly of the former Wizard Saint.

"I don't wish to keep you all up too late, but do expect some changes coming from the magic Council soon!" Siegrain waved slightly, and the lacrima screen cut off.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Gaia asked Magnus as she folded her arms.

"Of course I did, but it doesn't involve us, so why mention it?" Magnus replied.

"I dunno man..." Daryan said as used a small bone to pick his teeth. "That guy doesn't seem alright..."

"Oh, he's far from it..." Magnus nodded. "But, trust me on this."

"That was great, Siegrain-Senpai!" Correll said as he bowed with immense praise to the new leader of the Magic Council.

"Incredible, I couldn't have done better myself," Odin said with a simple, yet loyal nod.

"Excellent work, Siegrain," Aloy said with an approving nod.

"Is this really happening?" Doranbolt asked Lahar with obvious doubt in his voice from the current situation.

"It looks like it," Lahar responded with a nod. "I don't know if we can actually trust Siegrain yet, but it's the only thing we can do at the moment..."

"I have a few things for some of you to do right now," Siegrain said as he looks towards the five captains. "Lahar, I believe there was a new recruit waiting here for hours, please bring her in."

"Yes, sir..." Lahar nodded, and walked off.

"Correll, Odin, and Aloy, I want /enforcement/ of the laws now, are we clear?" Siegrain asked with a somewhat intimidating stare to show how serious he was, but he soon found that the stare wasn't necessary as the three captains nodded in agreement as soon as Siegrain made the request.

"You can count on me, Siegrain-Senpai! I'll reach my arrest quota and beyond!" Correll nodded with a smirk.

"If he doesn't get distracted by every female he sees..." Odin commented.

"That's a hard hurtle for me to leap and you know it!" Correll replied. "Plus I can't help it if the ladies love me!"

Odin rolled his eyes at Correll's reply, then turned to Siegrain. "Yes, sir, Siegrain."

"You can count on me, sir," Aloy nodded.

"And Doranbolt, you can remain on standby. With your speed, you will assist me in personal arrest, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Doranbolt nodded.

In the prison of the Magic Council, Gran Doma himself was cuffed, and trapped inside a cell, a highly depressed look on his face. Cobra heard everything that happened, and witnessed it for himself, along with the other criminals; the arrest and overthrowing of the Magic Council Chairman. "Interesting turn of events..." Cobra said to himself, but a smirk was on his lips.

Siegrain sat in what used to be Gran Doma's chair, crossing one leg over the other as he rested his elbow on the arm of the chair, leaning his head against his hand. "Ah...it's good to be the king."


	34. Chapter 34

A few days passed since Siegrain declared himself the new chairman of the Magic Council. Though many people didn't agree with it, they had no choice but to comply. The enforcement on the laws ended up being much stricter as well, as captains, namely Correll, managed to create arrest warrants for anyone who managed to do the slightest thing wrong. Odin and Aloy weren't as effective as Correll was, but they did manage to make arrest as well. It was morning now, and standing next to Siegrain was a female with short blonde hair that reached her shoulders, and she wore a magic council outfit. Siegrain turned to face the young girl to introduce her to the other captains. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Layanna, she will be a new member of the Magic Council, understand?"

"Yes, sir," The captains nodded in unison.

"Thank you, Siegrain-sama..." Layanna said with a respectful bow.

"Oh, Siegrain-senpai, I forgot to mention this to you," Correll said as he approached the wizard saint with a large file. "This is a file on someone I think you should know about."

"Hm?" Siegrain raised an eyebrow as he took the file, opening it up after as he began to read its contents, snickering lightly at the first thing he saw. "Fairy Tail, eh?" Siegrain continued to read, quickly skimming the pages as he absorbed the important information. "Cynthia Viscard, daughter to the scientist Aiden Viscard, who is now living off life support in the bowels of the Council after the event "Fiore's End...Are you saying she's a threat to Fiore?" Siegrain asked as he looked towards Correll with a quizzical expression painted on his features.

"Well, personally..." Correll started. "I don't like the girl, and I'm just waiting for her to slip so I can arrest her."

"In other words," Odin continued. "She's not a problem at the moment, but if her emotions spiral out of her control, she will become quite the issue to put a stop to."

"And the other "experiments" like her, are being held in the higher security prison," Aloy nodded. "They aren't as dangerous as she is, but they still are pretty dangerous."

"I see..." Siegrain nodded as he closed the file. "So, what I'm hearing is you wish to keep a close eye on Fairy Tail?"

"I wouldn't mind doing it," Correll said first, walking up with a smug grin.

"He's only saying this so he can scope out all the females around there..." Odin sighed.

Correll turned to face the oxygen manipulation mage, shouting towards him defensively. "Can it, Odin! That's not true!"

"Mirajane Strauss...? Former model for Sorcerer's Weekly...?" Layanna said quietly, but she projected her voice well enough for everyone to head. Her comment kept Correll silent, because it was partially true, considering his nature.

"...That MAY be true, but I know my job comes first before all else!" Correll nodded.

"Correll is trustworthy..." Lahar said with an agreeing nod.

"Alright, Correll, I give you permission to watch Fairy Tail," Siegrain said with a nod. "Do not disappoint me."

"I will do my best, Siegrain-Senpai!" Correll said with a salute.

"Excellent. Now, Aloy, Odin, how is "she" coming along..?" Siegrain asked the two captains with a hint of curiosity and seriousness mixed into his tone.

"Oh, she is coming along quite well, Siegrain," Aloy replied with a nod.

"Perfect, shall I go check on her now?" Siegrain asked.

"It's okay to do so," Odin nodded.

"Perfect. Now, back to work!" Siegrain shouted, and the captains went off to their duties. After this, Siegrain turned, and walked off, down the Magic Council building. He continued to go down, and eventually down into the basement of the large building. Upon reaching the basket, Siegrain walked up to a young girl, estimated to be about 13, with blonde hair, on the wall, wires from the wall connecting into her back, and a mask over her face to hide her eyed. Eve."

The girl's eyes "booted up" flashing red for a split second before she looked towards Siegrain curiously, speaking in a monotonous, yet curiosity filled voice. "Yes, Siegrain?"

.

.

Inside Fairy Tail, things remained unchanged despite Seigrain's declaration a few nights ago. Everything was just as lively as ever, though a few members such as Erza and Makarov were constantly mulling over what Siegrain could possibly be after. "I have to find Jellal..." Erza looked towards Makarov with a serious expression. "I need to know why he released Siegrain."

"As curious as I am, I think we should wait just a little bit before looking for Siegrain's creator," Makarov said after taking a sip from his mug. "He had a reason, whatever it may be, and we shall find out soon enough, I hope..."

Erza nodded towards the master, "I understand, Master..."

"There will be a guild master's meeting about this soon, no doubt, and I will be sure to attend," Makarov said with a nod.

Cynthia sat at a table, deep in thought as she stared out into space. Her staring caught the attention of her best friend, Wendy Marvell, and her exceed, Carla. "What's wrong, Cynthia?" Wendy asked curiously as she poked Cynthia's shoulder.

"Oh, hey," Cynthia turned slightly, giving a slight wave to her friend. "I was just thinking...about the other people who were used as experiments...I escaped, yeah...but I don't know if anyone else was so lucky..."

A small frown appeared on Wendy's face, and she wasn't exactly sure how to respond. "I...I'm sure they're fine...! Right, Carla?" Wendy quickly looked towards the white exceed for support.

"U-Uh...yeah, of course!" Carla said as an animated sweat drop appeared on the side of her head from being put on the spot like that.

"Y-You think so?!" Cynthia's eyes lit up. "They were my family, and the entire reason I managed to escape...if I could help them right now, I would, but to repay them...if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have met you, or Fairy Tail...or White Eclipse!"

"Aye! We're still gonna take them down no matter what they say!" Natsu chimed in as soon as he heard the name White Eclipse.

"I still has a score to settle with that copy mage..." Lucy said as she clenched her fist slightly. "I will beat him..."

"Get in line," Laxus said as he rose from his seat on the S class floor, leaning against the railing as he looked down towards the other mages. "I still gotta stomp that little shit into the ground for copying my magic, and managing to beat me in and tournament match a year ago."

"You two can have him," Natsu said as he slammed a fist into the table. "I want Takeru."

"Everyone's getting riled up again..." Happy said while chewing on a fish. "Natsu can take him down! Aye!"

"I bet Erza would like another chance at Reve, eh?" Cynthia said as she turned to the S class requip mage, who cringed slightly because she remembered that she was unable to actually defeat Reve in their battle.

"Diamond Princess is mine, gieheh..." Gajeel smirked slightly.

"I do want another chance at that Sidney fellow...he's strong, no doubt," Gildarts said with a nod.

"You better not lose next time!" Makarov said to his children.

.

.

In the lively town of Magnolia, White Eclipse's Fire Make mage, Kuro Crane, just finished grocery shopping for the guild, and was returning home with a joyous spring in his step. "Noodles, noodles, I love noodles~." The joyful fire make mage sang to himself as he started to exit the town. Upon exiting, he bumped into someone, causing the noodles in the shopping bag to fall out.

"Watch I-" Daityas started, but he then looked on the ground, noticing the noodle containers in the ground. "Are those noodles?"

"Hai!" Kuro nodded excitedly. "Sorry about bumping into you...!"

"Oh, no, it's fine..." Daityas said as he examined the noodles. "Noodles are great, ne?"

"The best!" Kuro said with a nod. "There's a lot more over at my guild!"

Daityas raised a brow in interest, eying the fire make mage curiously. "And your guild is...?"

"White Eclipse!" Kuro said with a nod. "Do you want to come?"

"That's the guild where Tayakata and Arc..." Daityas thought to himself before nodding. "Sure, I'll come along!"

.

.

Things were quiet at the Twilight Zone guild. It wasn't exactly the most social guild, so nothing of interest went on inside the place often. Evanee just woke up, and she trudged into the kitchen, beginning to make herself a cup of strawberry milk to start her day. After making the strawberry milk, she started to return to her room when someone knocked on the door. "Ugh...who is around here this early (About 11AM) in the morning...?" Evanee trudged to the doors and opened then slowly.

"SURPRISE!" Alex jumped through the front doors, her exuberant voice echoing through the guild halls, waking up the resting members, aside from Caelestis.

"WHAT THE-" Alex's sudden appearance shocked the stone dragon slayer, causing her to jump back, the cup of strawberry milk flying out of her hand, sending the pink liquid flying throughout the main room. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Saying hello!" The red haired mage responded excitedly.

"You don't jump through someone's front doors!" Evanee replied.

"Oh, lighten up, beautiful..." Daryan said as he walked inside, winking at Evanee.

"And who are YOU suppose to be?" Rylo asked as he walked from his room, raising an eyebrow at Daryan.

"Name's Daryan! We met once, remember?!" Daryan said. "S class mage of Cosmic Star!"

"..Nope, don't remember..." Rylo merely shrugged, and then looked towards the front doors as Gaia, Magnus, and Yakuza walked through, clearly invited.

"Oh...so this is Twilight Zone..." Gaia said with an unimpressed tone.

"Looks kinda like a dump..." Yakuza said with a shrug, then turned to met the menacing glare of the other members, Flynn, Alexander, Tsami, and Taranis. "On the outside. It's a nice place on the inside, honestly," Yakuza said with a surprisingly honest tone.

"This place looks exactly how I imagined it..." Magnus said while looking around.

"Who are you guys?" Flynn asked as he rubbed his eyes, still waking up.

"We are Cosmic Star!" Alex said enthusiastically. "That's Magnus, a literal know-it-all!" Alex said as she pointed to Magnus, then Yakuza. "That's Yakuza...he's a bit of a loner and a really "cool" guy..." She giggled at her own little joke, but none of the Twilight Zone members present currently got it. "This is Daryan, Skeletal Dragon Slayer and an S class mage! And that's Gaia, the strongest Earth mage to walk Fiore!"

"Gaia..." Evanee scoffed slightly and crossed her arms.

"Hi, Ev~" Gaia said with a slight smile.

"S class, huh?" Rylo's ears perked up.

"That's right," Daryan said with a smirk, then pointed outside. "You wanna have a little go?"

"Heh, I could use a little early morning exercise..." Rylo said with a confident smirk.

"If you want an extreme workout..." Gaia said with a friendly tone. "You should fight Alex, she's the strongest S class at Cosmic Star."

"And then I get undermined..." Daryan said with a sigh.

"Heh, well, what do you say?" Rylo asked as he looked at Alex.

"Let's go!" Alex said with a large grin, then stepped outside.

"Might as well go watch..." Alexander said as he, and the others started outside.

"This is the guild you come from...?" Gaia asked Evanee with a curious expression.

"Yes it is, Guy-chan," Evanee replied.

"Guy...chan...?" Gaia's eyebrow's furrowed slightly as she walked outside, Rylo and Alex now facing off against each other, a few yards apart.

"You ready?" Alex asked as she hopped up and down a few times.

"Of course!" Rylo said with a nod, then took off his top hat, bowing slightly as he put it back on. "Ladies first!"

"Okay!" Alex grinned and held her arms at her sides, a thick black substance surrounding her wrist and up as her hands turned into razor sharp claws. Alex then rushed forward, a speed a little faster than Rylo expected, and once she reached the slight of hand mage, she began to claw at him furiously.

"Eh..?" Rylo, unfamiliar with whatever Alex's magic, was slightly surprised, but when she started clawing at him, he managed to use his skill and agility to evade most of the slashes, but a few of them managed to land, leaning multiple cuts all over his body. Now deciding to go on the offensive, Rylo ducked, and preformed a sweep kick on Alex, catching the girl off guard, noted by the quick yelp. Alex quickly caught her balance, and flipped up.

"Not bad!" Alex said with a grin as she landed. "Anything else?"

"Just starting dear," Rylo said with a grin as a small flower appeared on his top hat, to which he took off, and held in front of him. "Say, would you like a flower?"

"Oh, I love flowers!" Alex grinned, her guard completely down as she skipped forward.

"You can't be serious..." Magnus said as he faced palmed.

"Here, have it!" Rylo smirked as he threw the flower forward, the petals flying off as they turned into razor sharp blades, all flying towards Alex.

"GAH!" Alex flailed slightly, the attack catching her off guard slightly as she slashed at the razor sharp petals, managing to cut a few, while the others ran past her sides and arms, creating noticeable cuts on them. "That wasn't a flower at all!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, please, allow me to fix that!" Rylo pulled another flower out from his pocket, and held it out, aiming right at Alex. Rylo smirked as the flower unleashed a high pressurized blast of water.

"Oh come on...!" Alex groaned slightly, holding her clawed arms up as the black substance surrounded her arms, now morphing her arms into a heavy, thick hammer fists. using one for defensive means as the water slammed into her arm, sending her back across the ground a few inches, but she was fine as the water died down.

"What magic is that...?" Alexander asked curiously. "I've never seen anything like it..."

"You could call it...a Prototype form of magic..." Magnus said. "I can't go into detail, however...Gaia doesn't like it when I do..."

"Darn right I don't," Gaia replied.

"Hmph!" Alex raised her left hammer fist up, then bright it down to the ground, the own weight of the fist and gravity increasing the impact of the fist as it slammed into the ground, cracking the ground as a shockwave traveled towards Rylo.

"Heh...Nothing up my sleeve!" Rylo smirked as a clear magic circle appeared in front of him, absorbing the shockwave, leaving him unharmed. But, before Rylo could do anything else, Alex had already morphed her arm into a spear-like claw, and extended it forward, jabbing it into Rylo's shoulder, which almost resulted in a cry of pain from the mage, but he bit his tongue.

"Daryan told me about that trick..." Alex said with a smirk as she withdrew her arm, pulling it back as she went for another go.

"Heh..." Rylo smirked as he rolled his now bleeding shoulder, a magic circle forming under him. "Now you see me...!" And the magic circle ran through Rylo, turning him invisible.

"What?!" Alex's red widened at the sudden disappearing act. She looked around carefully, but the next thing she knew, her own shockwave from earlier knocked her off her feet, and onto her butt. Alex looked up after, only to see Rylo coming down with an attempted axe kick, but Alex's hand turned into a black shield, which absorbed the impact of the attack. She then pulled her fist back, turning it into a hammer fist just as she brought it up into Rylo's chin, landing a heavy hit as Rylo rolled across the ground, hopping up after.

"She's not bad..." Rylo said with a grin. "Now, I wonder..." Two cards appeared, one behind Rylo, and one behind Alex, the ace of spades. "Is this your card?" Before Alex could respond, a large explosion erupted from the card behind her, and a quick yelp of pain escaped Alex's lips as she laid on her stomach on the ground.

"Ouch..." Daryan said while rubbing his arms.

"Oh, she's down already?" Evanee asked.

"T-That was a dirty trick..." Alex grumbled, starting to get annoyed as her hair started to change color, going from red to white. "I don't like dirty tricks..."

"It's all magic, my dear!" Rylo said with a nod, pleased with the fact Alex was getting up. Though, Rylo had no reaction time for the sudden heavy, yet normal kick, landed on his head, sending him tumbling away. "W-What the...?"

"No, no, call the match, right now!" Gaia shouted.

"Eh, what's going on?" Rylo asked as he shook his head. "That may have hurt, but I'm still in this...!"

"Alex, calm down!" Gaia said as she walked over to Alex, shaking her gently, thus returning the girl's white hair back to red.

"I'm awake, I'm awake...!" Alex said, oblivious to what just happened.

"That means its time to go..." Magnus sighed. "I knew this would happen..."

"Leaving already?" Taranis asked.

"I'm afraid we must," Gaia replied. "But, this was nice, and we must do this again, right, Ev-chan?"

"Nu-uh, you already nicknamed me Ev, no taksies backsies," Evanee said while waving a finger.

"What sort of childish term..." Gaia just sighed, and she, along with the other members of Cosmic Star, walked off.

"What was that all about..." Rylo asked as he held his shoulder, which was now growing numb.

"I dunno...but I'm tired...fix yourself up, too," Evanee said before returning inside.


	35. Chapter 35: Daityas

"Has anyone seen Kuro?" Zalen asked as he walked around the main ball of the White Eclipse building.

"I think he went out shopping," Waiston replied, sitting on the couch while chewing on a piece of ice.

"He's been gone for quite a while now..." Taya said while crossing her arms. "If I remember correctly he went out to by food supplies I can use to make dinner."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon!" Nami said cheerfully.

"Perfect," Taya says with a nod, looking around after. She noticed the guild hall was filled with most everyone, minus too people. "Where are Heather and Luke?" Taya asked with a raised brow.

"In Luke's room...still sleeping," Selene says with a slight, mischievous giggle.

"Is that so?" Taya turned to Selene, who simply nodded in response.

"It's almost noon...how can anyone sleep so long...?" Takeru asked while rubbing the back of his head.

"You should ask Taya, she's usually asleep for days at a time," Waiston chuckled, but the next thing he knew, a dark vector took hold of him and threw him off the couch, onto the floor. "Oof!"

"Ha!" Takeru laughed from his special seat near a corner of the room.

"You want one too?" Taya asked with a raised brow.

"I'm good." Takeru replied with a nod.

A few minutes later, Kuro opened the doors of White Eclipse, walking inside with Daityas, a cheerful grin on his face. "Hey, everyone! I'm home, and I brought a friend!"

As soon as Taya and Arc (sensed for Arc to be exact) spotted Daityas, their facial expressions turned from casual to threatening. Arc was so infuriated at the simple scent of Daityas he managed to let out a low growl, but everyone else seemed to be welcoming.

"Who's your friend, Kuro?" Jaxon asked with a raised brow.

"My name is-" Daityas started.

"Kuro...what have you done..." Taya mumbled to herself as she stormed off to her room.

"Ah...Taya..." Daityas said as the raven-haired woman walked off, and she didn't even bother to turn back.

"Well that was rude..." Kuro said while sighing.

"Anyway, my name is Daityas, but you can call me Dait for short," the demon said with a friendly smile, though Arc and Nami weren't buying it.

"Y-You're the one to attacked us!" Nami shouted.

"Eh?" Daityas raised an eyebrow at Nami's accusation. "I don't remember it going down like that..."

"What happened, now?" Reve asked as he stepped forward.

"It appears Taya's little sister is misunderstanding some things," Daityas said with a slight chuckle.

"And what might that be?" Reve asked, crossing his arms as a memory started to play in the back of his head, his suspicions of Dait as high as they could get.

"As I remember, Taya wanted to spar, and since we are both very powerful mages, she didn't want her sister to get hurt, so she sent her away, and we fought, and Taya ended up getting heavily injured," Daityas replied.

"L-Liar!" Nami shouted.

{Flash back}

About three months ago, Nami managed to convince her older sibling to hop out of her and accompany her on a mission. Nami and Taya entered the forest nearby as they headed towards the requested area, when they came across Daityas, which caused the now S class mage of White Eclipse to pull her sister back. "Daityas..." Taya said in a low tone.

"Ah, Taya, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" Daityas asked with a smirk, crossing his arms after.

"Taya...who is he?" Nami asked curiously as she looked to her tense older sibling.

Taya completely ignored Nami for the time being as her focus went to Tartaros' leader. "What do you want...?"

"Oh, I just remembered, you left Tartaros a while back, and I never gave you the farewell ceremony..." Daityas replied as a villainous smirk slowly crawled its way onto his lips.

Upon hearing Daityas' reasoning, Taya immediately formed a dark vector that started to usher Nami off. "Nami, leave, now."

"B-But Taya...!" Nami started to object.

Taya's tone lowered, also turning more threatening. "Nami, I said GO." Nami flinched slightly at her sister's tone, but she nodded, and decided to comply for the time being, fleeing as told. Taya then turned to Dait. "You're not planning on leaving any time soon, are you Daityas?"

"Not until you get your ceremony..." Daityas said with a smirk as the flames of Hell surrounded his hands.

"It's been too long, Daityas..." Taya said as two vectors appeared at her sides.

"Far too long, my dear," Daityas said as he sprinted forward, the fire on his hands turning into demonic claws, which he then used to slash at Taya. However, Taya brought the two vectors at her sides up into a X, protecting her from the slash. A vacant vector then slammed into Dait's gut. Dait looked as though he was going to cough, but instead he began to laugh manically as the flames of Hell started to seep through his teeth. "Hell Fire Demon's Screech!" Daityas then sent the vortex of Hell's flames at Taya, and even though she was unable to dodge, she managed to bring her vectors up as a defense, which managed to absorb most of the damage, but some of the flames slipped past her defenses, and burnt her clothes as a result. This only intrigued the demon as he watched this, he knew Tayakata as a very power member of Tataros during her time there. Now that she had found her sister, did. It make her weak? Daityas wanted to know this, but he confined away, rushing Taya once again as a tail of hell's flames appeared behind him, and he swung it at Taya.

Taya's vectors were too slow to disperse after the last attack, so the tail of hell flames struck her hip, and at that very moment, Taya let out an agonizing scream of pain as the flames burnt through her clothing and easily burning her skin. The S class mage slid across the ground slightly, her hair now uneven along with her breathing, completely off guard from the attack. "S-Shit...!"

"Tell me, Taya...how long has it been since you experienced fear...?" Daityas asked as he grinned widely, showing off his teeth which were quickly beginning to sharpen. Not only this, but the ground started to shake from the immense magical power Daityas was giving off. His skin turned black, and his chest glowed with the flames of hell.

Taya knew she wasn't going to win this, as she knew Daityas was too powerful, but she held her hands out as darkened magic seals appeared on her hands, forming two jet black spheres in her palms. "I'll never fear you!" Taya shouted defiantly.

"Hm...perhaps your sister would...or your guild mates?" Daityas chuckled as he pointed a hand down, a red magic circle appearing under the entire area the two were. "I'd advise your sister to take backs a few steps."

Taya grit her teeth, the spheres on her hands growin in size with her anger. "You're not hurting any of them, Dait, and after this, we have no more business!" Taya then looked over her shoulder as she shouted to Nami, who was still in the vicinity. "Namiyaka, get back right now!". Nami complied, walking back as far as she needed to.

Daityas waited for Nami to step back, and as soon as she did, he smirked, chuckling at Taya's words. "Underworld Eruption..." And at that moment, the ground started cracking under Taya, the flames of Hell spewing out slowly, and with a snap of his fingers, Hell's flames erupted on Taya, covering the area equal to that of a town. Taya let out an agonizing scream of pain as the flames easily ripped through her clothing, burning her skin with ease as the flames towered into the sky. Daityas then snapped his fingers, dispersing the flames, aside from those now on Taya's body. "See you again, Taya~" Daityas said as he edgier his demon drive, leaving Taya near lifeless on the ground.

{End flash back}

"Oh, I don't remember it happening like that at all..." Daityas said.

"Liar!" Nami screamed.

"If he really is a dark guild member, show us your guild mark..." Aira suggested.

"Well..." Daityas took off his shirt, revealing his charred body. "I would...but when I left Tartaros myself...the master wasn't so forgiving..."

"O-Oh my..." Aira gasped slightly, and Dait put his shirt back on.

Daityas looked around, his eyes landing in Arc, to which he smirked, but the Darkness Demon Slayer continued to growl. "Not happy to see me, Arc?"

"It's fine for you to go..." Arc said with a low growl.

Daityas didn't really feel like going, but he decided he was done for now, and have a shrug. "Alright, I'll go." Daityas walked out the doors, and Kuro followed behind him.

"I'm sir sorry about that, Dait..." Kuro said with a frown. "I didn't expect it to go like that..."

"Oh, it's fine!" Daityas replied. "Say, Kuro, if you wanted to, you could train with me, ne?"

"Train?! I would love that!" Kuro said excitedly.

.

.

"I wonder who's stronger...Mirajane or Erza..." Cynthia wondered aloud as she looked between the two mages in current conversation.

"It doesn't matter!" Natsu said with a grin. "I'll beat them both one day, watch!"

"You can't even beat me in a one on one," Laxus yawned towards the fire dragon slayer, though this only sparked confidence in Natsu as he wrapped his arm in flames, and lunged towards Laxus with his fist pulled back.

"OH YEAH?!" Natsu shouted as he braved forward, though before he could swing, Laxus met him with an electrified fist, sending Natsu into the nearby wall, in KO.

"I'm not paying for that..." Laxus said as he turned around, putting his headphones back into his ears.

"That's Laxus for you," Freed said with a sense of pride.

"Always with the one shots..." Gajeel shook his head. "I could do better."

"So why did you run when it was your turn?" Laxus asked the iron slayer as he raised a brow curiously.

"Because I-" Gajeel started, and he honestly didn't have a defense for his actions, but luckily for him, the front doors of the guild flew open as Fairy Tail now had guest.

"Hello, Fairy Tail!" A bandaged up Alex yelled excitedly.

"Eh?" Gray turned his head at the visitors. "Who are..." Before Gray could finish, he recognized Daryan. "Oh, it's you."

"Cosmic Star is here!" Daryan smirked, then immediately started scanning the guild...or rather, the mature females in the guild. It was no surprise that Mirajane, Erza, Lucy and Lisanna caught his interest. "Oh, hello, ladies."

"A Man doesn't look at someone's sisters!" Elfman said as he stood up, shooting a glare to Daryan, but the cocky S class mage ignored him.

"Comsic Star?" Gildarts asked as he stood up.

"Oh...I remember you..!" Lucy said as she pointed to Daryan.

"Oh, my lovely blonde flower, how are you?" Daryan asked with hearts in his eyes.

"Daryan, down," Magnus said with a sigh.

"Magnus...? Right?" Wendy asked.

"Ah, nice to see you again," Magnus said with a polite bow.

"Who are your friends?" Wendy asked as he looked towards the other four members.

"Ah, well, that is Yakuza, an ice wizard," Magnus stated. "Over there is Daryan, and that is Alex, our two S class mages, and lastly, we have Gaia, our SS class mage, and the strongest earth mage to walk Fiore."

"SS class mage you say?" Cynthia's ears perked up, and she ran to greet the guest. "Hello, I'm-"

Alex's eyes widened at the sight if Cynthia, and she lunged forward, tackle hugging the girl. "C-Cynthia...!"

"GAH!" Cynthia yelped in surprise as Alex tackled her.

"I-It's been so long!" Alex started to weep into Cynthia's shirt.

"H-Huh...?" Cynthia blinked a few times, then attempted to remember the girl's scent, her eyes widening as a result. "A-Alex!"

"They know each other...?!" Daryan's eyes widened.


	36. Chapter 36: S Class Challenge

"You know each other?" Erza asked as she turned to face the visitors, and the hugging Cynthia and Alex.

"Alex is my older sister!" Cynthia replied, and her reply shocked everyone within the guild.

"YOU HAVE AN OLDER SISTER?!" Lucy shouted in surprise.

"Yeah! Did...I not...mention that..." Cynthia's smile turned into a subtle frown as she realized she forgot about her. "I forgot about you...I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry! You were only three years old when..." Alex then trailed off. "It doesn't matter!"

"You two look nothing alike..." Gray pointed out.

"Well...she's not my biological sister..." Cynthia said with a sheepish grin. "But, she was adopted into the family when I was a little girl, before my mother was killed."

"What?!" Alex's eyes widened. "Mother was killed...?!"

"It's...a long story..." Cynthia said while rubbing the back of her head. "Anyway! How are you?!"

"I'm great!" Alex grinned. "I see you've found a good family!"

"Hai!" Cynthia nodded, grinning as she dragged Alex to Wendy. "Alex, meet my best friend, Wendy!"

"Nice to meet you, Wendy!" Alex said with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you too, Alex!" Wendy replied with a sweet smile.

While the three girls chatted, the other members of Cosmic Star dispersed into the guild. Daryan pulled Natsu from the wall, and shook the dragon slayer slightly. "Oi, Dragneel, wake up."

"Gah!" Natsu hopped up, confused once he laid eyes on the unfamiliar people. "You're..."

"The weird guy," Gajeel said as he and Patherlily approached Natsu and Daryan.

"Oh, well, well! Look what we have here! The dragon slayer duo who defeated Sabertooth's Twin Dragons!" Daryan said with a clap, though he was making it really difficult to tell if he was being slightly sarcastic with that statement.

"They were strong, of course, but Fairy Tail is number one in the end!" Natsu said with a smirk.

"Aye!" Happy said in agreement.

"Is that so?" Daryan raised a brow as he eyed Happy and Lily. "Exceeds, huh? Haven't seen those in a while...but...you're nothing special, eh." Daryan then held his arm out, and whistled. A few minutes later, a gray exceed flew through the front doors of Fairy Tail and landed on Daryan's arm. "Meet my Exceed, Hiruka."

"Hiya!" The gray exceed grinned.

"Shoop a de fucking do, you have an exceed too," Gajeel said while rolling his eyes.

"As cold as they've said, Black Steel..." Daryan gave a slight laugh. "I'd love to take you two on sometime though."

"Both of us?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah!" Daryan nodded.

"Giehe, you don't need to face Salamander, I'm more than enough!" Gajeel said confidently, though his attitude immediately led to him being head to head with Natsu.

"What was that, bolt breath?!" Natsu's asked with an intense look.

"You heard me, Salamander!" Gajeel replied with a smirk. Though the attitude of the two caused Daryan and Hiruka to laugh.

"Just as they said," Daryan's laugh died down to a chuckle. "I'll be looking forward to seeing the power that defeated Sting and Rogue."

"Don't worry, we'll win," Natsu's tone and expression went from angered to confident. "I am the strongest dragon slayer, after all."

"Aye!" Happy said with a grin.

"Actually, you're the 4th, strongest," Gajeel said as if he were correcting Natsu. "Me, Omega Fire twerp, Laxus, and THEN you."

"Guess I'll just be bumping my way up to number one then," Daryan said in a completely serious tone, which came as a slight surprise given his normal laid back tone. "Battle of the first generation dragon slayers, eh?

"You're a first generation?" Natsu asked. "So your dra-"

Hiruka laughed, cutting Natsu off. "HA! Save the questions for later, eh?"

"Heh, fine, we're still gonna win!" Natsu said with a wide smirk.

The scene now turns to Gray and Yakuza, who eyes each other curiously. Juvia, of course, kept her eyes on Yakuza, seeing the fellow ice mage as a potential love rival. "Love rival..." Juvia mumbled to herself as her eyes stayed on Yakuza.

"So...you're also an ice mage, huh?" Yakuza asked Gray with a interested expression.

"That's right, Ice Make-Mage, I was taught by Ur," Gray replied.

"Oh, just simple ice...I see..." Yakuza shrugged, suddenly becoming uninterested in the conversation.

"What do you mean just simple ice? You know ice can even freeze time itself, right?" Gray asked, crossing his arms over his chest. However, by this point in time, he had unknowingly stripped down to his black boxer's, which caused hearts to fly from Juvia's eyes.

"You're acting like I was born yesterday," The gothic attired mage said while waving a hand dismissively. "Ice Make us relatively weak when it comes to the ice element in general..."

"What was that?!" Gray asked as he stepped closer to Yakuza.

"I'm not fighting you, you're not worth it," Yakuza said with a sigh. "Also...put some clothes on, for crying out loud..."

"Huh...?" Gray looked down, jumping noticeably as a mumbled "damn it..." Escapes his lips. "Anyway, why won't you fight me? Scared?"

"Nope, just don't see the point in battling lesser ice-users…" Yakuza merely shrugged, though his statement caught Juvia's attention.

"Don't talk bad about Gray-sama!" Juvia flailed, though Yakuza thoroughly ignored the bluenette.

"Aren't you so high and mighty…" Gray scowled slightly, though Yakuza more or less stopped listening to him at that point.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Ice Maker…" Yakuza replied, his tone showing up uninterested he was.

A shift now goes over to Magnus, who happened to be discussing a few things with Erza. "So, Titania," Magnus started as she took a seat. "I assume you know of the events that transpired several days ago, yes?"

"About Siegrain? Yes, I know…" Erza asked as she took a seat across from Magnus, a brow raised in interest as she curiously wondered what Magnus was going to say next.

"Well, I'm just here to tell you, that you should find Jellal Frenandes as soon as possible, he does hold all the answers to your questions," Magnus said with a slight nod, leaning back in his chair.

"I've heard that you know about a lot of things," Erza said as she crossed her arms. "So do you know the answers I seek?"

Magnus let out a chuckle at Erza's question, shaking his head slowly. "Oh, I could, but it really isn't my business to begin with. But, I was just letting you know how urgent it is for you to see him."

"I see…" Erza kept herself form frowning at Magnus's response as it came as a disappointment. "Well…Welcome to Fairy Tail, and I hope your guild…Cosmic Star, becomes a strong one" Erza said with a nod.

"SO," Gaia started while taking a seat at the bar, right next to Gildarts and Makarov. "Can I have a drink, please?"

"Of course," Mirajane gave a slight sweet smile as she prepared, and gave a drink of Gaia.

"So, you're the ace of your guild, hm?" Makarov asked as he initiated conversation with Gaia.

"That's correct," Gaia said with a nod. "I don't mean to brag or anything, but I think I can call myself the strongest earth mage in Fiore."

"Strongest earth mage, eh?" Gildarts said with an interested tone.

"I'd like to see you face off against Jura," Makarov said with a slight chuckle. "He is a wizard saint, the fifth ranked, and he is also an earth mage."

"Is that so?" Gaia's brow raised in interest. "Then perhaps I should find this Jura sometime and face off against him."

"Yooo!" Daryan slid over to the bar, leaning over it as he smirked at Mirajane. "So, you and me, tomorrow night…"

Mirajane blinked cluelessly at Daryan's attempt to flirt with her. "Tomorrow night…why?"

"What did I just tell you!?" Elfman said in a protective tone as he got face to face with Daryan. "A Man doesn't flirt with another man's sister!"

"Oh, the younger protective brother…meh…" Daryan waved a hand as if to shoo Elfman off. "She's older than you, and therefore, old enough to make her own decisions, you know."

"Oh, Daryan! Cut that out!" Alex said with a huff as she walked over to the dragon slayer. "Stop flirting with the super models! They are WAY out of your league!"

"Ah…!" Daryan's mouth dropped, Alex's words leaving a dent in Daryan's pride.

"A Man wouldn't have his pride hit like that by a little girl either," Elfman said with a smirk.

"Baka…" Evergreen said with a slight groan.

"Daryan is more a man than you!" Hiruka shouted defensively, intent on defending his partner.

"Oh yeah!?" Elfman growled.

"Enough," Laxus said as he stepped from the S class floor, his arms crossed. "I don't like your attitude." Laxus said to Daryan, his usual unamused tone and expression different.

"Ah! Laxus Dreyar! Lightning Dragon Slayer and S class mage of Fairy Tail, nice to meet'cha!" Daryan said as if nothing had happened, though Laxus wasn't having it.

"Don't act that way, I don't like your attitude towards my guild mates, despite how much I don't like them sometimes," Laxus replied.

"Ah, come on, don't be like that," Daryan said with a sigh, but he then picked his head back up. "Alright, if that's how you feel, then how about we issue an S class challenge, eh?"

"S class challenge…?" Cynthia asked with a blank stare.

"That's right! Laxus Dreyar vs. Daryan Skeletalus! Battle of the S classes, Fairy Tail and Cosmic Star! Whaddya say?" Daryan asked.

"Take it Laxus!" Natsu said as his body ignited in flames from the excitement. "If you don't I will!"

"Tch…I don't have time for such useless…" Laxus started, but he then shrugged, letting out a somewhat defeated sigh. "Alright, fine, I will accept the challenge. If I win, you have to stop acting like such a pig around my guild mates."

"Stop making it sound so bad…!" Daryan groaned. "And WHEN I win, I get to take one of these lovely ladies out on a date tomorrow night, deal?"

"DON'T LOSE LAXUS!" All the females shouted to the S class lightning dragon slayer in unison, though Laxus didn't really feel any pressure coming from the shouting.

"Fine, fair enough." Laxus replied indifferently.

"To the town square!" Daryan said, leading the way, everyone else following behind. A few minutes later, the guilds arrived at the open town square, and the two S class mages stood apart from each other. "Alright, Laxus, here's how things go down! The challenged gets the first move!"

"Shouldn't it be the other way around…?" Laxus asked while raising a brow. "Challenger gets the first move…?"

"It's better you don't question his logic…" Magnus said to Laxus. "Just go with it; it'll make everything easier for you…and us…"

"Fine…" Laxus dropped his coat onto the ground, and his body morphed into a ball of lightning and he instantly reached Daryan, his fist cocked back as electricity sparked around it. With no word, Laxus slammed his fist into Daryan's face; the force sending the unsuspecting Daryan back quite a few feet, but Daryan caught himself, grinning.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun…" Daryan's grin turned into a smirk as he bent down, getting into a running a running position, then jumped forward, the bones in his knuckles sharpening quickly as he threw fast punches towards Laxus.

"Hm…?" Laxus noticed the sharpened knuckles of his opponent, though he wasn't sure what this meant, so he went on the defensive, putting his arms up to block the punches, but to Laxus' surprise, the sharpness of Daryan's knuckles punctured his skin slightly, which led Laxus to wince slightly, but he continued to block, seeing as how he didn't have to many options. At another swing, Laxus caught Daryan's arm, stopping the punch inches away from his face. Laxus then swung Daryan around, eventually throwing him into the air. Laxus then followed up by holding his hands out, and fired off multiple electric spheres towards the airborne Daryan.

"Wah!" Daryan cried out as he flew into the air, but he twisted his body, regaining control of it. When he saw the incoming spheres, he smirked, and held his hand out. "Bone rush!" A tan magic circle appeared in Daryan's palm, and a several foot long bone appeared in Daryan's hand. Daryan swung the bone towards the incoming electric spheres, and knocked them all away with ease, landing on the ground after with a smirk. "Heh…"

"He used a bone to deflect the lightning?" Erza said, slightly impressed.

"That's Daryan for you," Gaia said with a smug grin. "He may act like a doof, but when it comes to battle, he's as serious as one gets."

"Laxus has this!" Natsu shouted.

"How'd you like that, Dreyar?" Daryan said as he twirled the bone around. "I can do a lot more than this, too!"

"Is that so?" Laxus asked, somewhat interested, mostly not, but he ignored the slight pain in his arms from Daryan's earlier punches.

"Yeah, like this!" Daryan reared his arm back, then hurled in a boomerang like throw towards Laxus. Laxus thought this was a stupid move, so he moved to the side, allowing the bone to fly past him, and into the distance; though Daryan used this few second opening to approach the fellow S class, and managed to land a powerful kick to Laxus's chin, causing a small grunt to escape Laxus's lips. Before Laxus could respond to the kick, Daryan landed a powerful punch to Laxus's stomach, sending Laxus sliding back across the ground a few inches.

"Come on, Laxus!" Cana shouted while drinking from her flask, mostly drunk already. "Kick his assssss!"

"She's drunk…" Lucy sighed, but with a faint smile.

Laxus managed to regain his senses, just in time as Daryan threw another punch, but Laxus's swayed his body to the side, avoiding the punch, then countered with his own electric punch, the force sending Daryan staggering back a few few. Laxus then morphed into lightning again, quickly circling around Daryan with his fists raised above his head, his fingers interlocked. "Lightning Dragon's Jaw!" Laxus then swung his fist down at the back of Daryan's head, landing a critical hit as Daryan hit the ground face first, a slight crater forming from the impact.

"Daryan!" Alex shouted.

"Your S class may be strong, but he's no match for Laxus, baby!" Bickslow said with a confident grin.

"You'll see about that…" Magnus said with a smug grin.

Laxus raised his fist, electricity sparking around it, but he stopped when he realized the boomerang bone was coming back, and he shifted his attention from Daryan to deal with that, but that was Laxus' mistake, as Daryan took advantage of this, and planted his hands on the ground, double kicking Laxus in the stomach, causing Laxus to bend over slightly. The boomerang then slammed into Laxus as he bent over, dazing him more than damaging him, and Daryan finished off the combo by hopping up, grabbing the bone, and pivoted on his left foot, spinning in a complete circle as he slammed the bone into Laxus' side, sending the mighty Laxus tumbling to the side, much to the shock of the Rajinshu.

"Laxus!" Freed shouted, completely surprised at how Daryan made Laxus seem like a beginner.

"Just warming up, Dreyar!" Daryan said with a smirk.

Laxus hopped up, rolling his neck, causing an audible popping noise. "As was I, I hope you're ready now…" Laxus said, and with no warning whatsoever, he opening his mouth, unleashing a Lightning Dragon's Roar towards Daryan.

"Whoa!" Daryan stabbed his bone into the ground, right in front of him, then jumped back, allowing the bone to act as a sort of conductor as the lightning dragon's roar Laxus fired diverted directly into the ground.

"He diverted it!?" Cynthia said in amazement.

"This is getting annoying…" Laxus mumbled as waited for Daryan to move.

"Oh, it only gets better!" Daryan grinned as he spread his hands out, moving his upper body and arms from side to side in a rhythmic motion. "Arise!"

"He's getting serious…" Alex commented once she saw Daryan in his new pose.

Once Daryan said "arise," three magic circles appeared on the ground, and from them, human skeletons rose from the ground, armed with swords and shields. "Arise my dead knights, and fight for your king!"

"You've got to be joking…" Laxus looked at the skeleton warriors now charging at him with a somewhat surprised expression, but this didn't change his strategy at all. Instead, Laxus merely bypassed these incoming warriors by morphing into a lightning bolt once again, now in the sky. This time, however, he held his hands out, and fired off multiple spheres of lightning yet again, but to circle Daryan instead of slamming into him.

"Eh…?" Daryan picked his bone out from the ground, raising his hand up as he twirled it above him, deflecting the lightning off to the side. "Heh!"

"No way…!" Cynthia said in amazement.

But, Laxus was counting on his, he again turned into a sphere of lightning, and rushed towards the distracted Daryan, landing a powerful lightning infused haymaker at Daryan's jaw, the attack obviously catching Daryan off guard as he rolled across the ground for a few seconds before hopping up, dusting himself off. "Damn…I felt that one…"

"You're going to feel a lot more than that soon…" Laxus said as his body started to bulk up, his dragon slayer fangs growing sharper, his arms growing scales, and his pupils vanishing from his eyes. Laxus then ripped off his shirt, seeing as how he had no use for a garment such as that now.

"It's over now…" Evergreen said with a taunting smirk.

"Do not underestimate Daryan, my dear," Magnus said with his smile growing.

Laxus held his hands above his head as he focused lightning in the empty space between them. "Raging Bolt!" Laxus then threw his arms forward, sending the lightning bolt hurtling towards Daryan.

"Oh boy…" Daryan held his free hand out, forming yet another bone equal in length to the one he was holding now. He crossed the bones into an X formation, allowing the Raging Bolt to strike into them, but the force was stronger than he originally thought, so he slid back slightly as the attack did manage to damage Daryan slightly, but nothing he couldn't handle. "Alright…" Daryan said as he held his bones at his sides. "You've shown me your dragon roar…Now let me show you mine…!" Daryan smirked as he reared his head back, his cheeks starting to puff out. "Roar…Of the Skeletal Dragon!" Daryan threw his head forward, unleashing a vortex of sharp bones racing towards Laxus.

"Is that it…?" Laxus was going to move forward to evade the attack, but a skeleton warrior from briefly diverted his attention from the roar as it slammed its sword down, but Laxus caught it, but then the roar slammed into him, and Laxus felt the pain. "Why does this hurt so much…?" Laxus thought to himself as the roar made contact. But, Daryan wasn't aiming for Laxus's entire body, Daryan instead aimed for the punctures he made in Laxus' arms from before. Laxus couldn't support his arms anymore as his arms sudden went numb from the attack, and fell limp to his sides. "What the…?"

"Kehe…now…time for the finishing act! Bone Dragon's Dance!" Daryan rushed forward, smirking at the opening he created in Laxus, swinging his bones in time which each other, each bone landing with a powerful impact on Laxus, shocking the Fairy Tail mages at how Laxus was seemingly being overpowered.

"Laxus, snap out of it!" Freed shouted.

"Don't let that bone baby show you up, Laxus! You can do it!" Bickslow shouted.

"Come on, Laxus! I don't wanna go on a date with that guy!" Lucy flailed her arms around.

Just as Daryan went in for the finishing blow, Laxus managed to sway to the right, avoiding what might have finished him off, and opened his mouth, unleashing a Dragon Force boosted Lightning Dragon's Roar at Daryan, and at point blank range no less, which sent Daryan flying, hitting the nearest tree with sparks dancing around his body. After a few seconds, Daryan stood up, with the help of his skeleton warriors. "Gah…"

"This match is a draw," Gaia said with a stern nod. "Daryan's injured pretty badly, and Laxus can't use his arms anymore."

"A draw…?" Natsu looked towards Daryan with a new sense of respect. "He tied with Laxus…"

"If Daryan wasn't struck, he would've won," Magus replied.

"Now, now…" Alex said while making a gesture to calm the rising tension. "I think we should all just calm down and go home…hehe…"

"Alex is right…I need to be patched up…hehe…" Daryan laughed slightly as his warriors vanished.

"Laxus-san, here!" Wendy rushed up to Laxus and placed her hands over his arms, a sea green light emitting as she began to heal his arms.

"Alex, do you really have to go so soon…?" Cynthia asked with a pout.

"I'll visit!" Alex nodded. "I promise!"

"She's good at keeping promises, so you can trust that," Yakuza said with a nod. Daryan walked with a slight limp to the others.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Fairy Tail, we will meet again~" Gaia said as she and the others started to leave.

"Nice meeting you!" Mirajane said with a wave.

Alex brought up the rear of the group, and looked back once they were out of town. "I can't believe I finally found her…" Alex said with a sigh, and in the next instant, her hair turned white, and her red eyes blazed somewhat as a sadistic smirk formed on her lips, it was as if she became a completely different person. "Now I can finally carry out father Aiden's will…and destroy Cynthia Viscard…"


	37. Chapter 37: Saeko

A day or so after the Daityas incident at White Eclipse, despite what he heard, Kuro was more than willing to give the king of hell (a fact he wasn't really aware of) the benefit of the doubt, and accepted his offer to train him. Kuro used his Fire Make: Knuckles, to easily punch down a few large trees in a nearby forest, to which Daityas nodded in approval at Kuro's progress. "Yes, you're showing decent improvement." Daityas said as he watched Kuro, who wiped sweat from off his forehead.

"You really think so, Dait?" Kuro asked hopefully.

"Yes, I'm quite impressed. If you continue to improve, I'll teach you something special," Daityas said. "But for now, you look tired, yes?"

"Yeah…" Kuro nodded and patted his stomach which growled lowly. "And hungry…We've been at this for hours…"

"I suppose you can return home then, and we can continue this another time," Daityas said with a nod, and started to walk off.

"Alright! See you later, Dait!" Kuro nodded, and turned in the opposite direction Daityas did.

Daityas continued walking, and he was eventually met by Maggie, Ruika, Kiora, and Ur, in other words, the main females of Tartaros. "You seem to have taken a liking to that Kuro kid," Ur said with a risen brow, somewhat perplexed by the situation given Daityas' personality and tendencies.

"He's an interesting one," Daityas replied. "He heard what I did to Taya, but he gives me the benefit of the doubt, and now the idiot's gonna let me into his guild whenever he sees fit. Plus Arc is in that guild as well."

"Arc…?" Ur stared blankly at Daityas.

"Arc was a former member of Tartaros," Kiora explained. "He and Tayakata decided to go all goody-two-shoes and leave."

"So your encounter with this Taya I heard about…was her punishment for leaving?" Ur asked.

"You could say that," Daityas replied. "The point is we're getting Arc and Taya back, eventually. I'll kill them myself and bring them back if I have to, and in the end, Fiore will succumb to the flames of hell, the people's screams, lovely music, and I will be laughing through it all."

"Uh…Dait…" Maggie waved her hand in front of Dait a few times, bringing the demon back to reality.

"That's…a little disturbing…" Ur coughed slightly.

"You're still getting used to being evil, I can tell," Daityas said while waving a dismissive hand. "You ladies haven't shown Ur how we do things yet, have you?"

"I thought she'd pick up on it by now," Ruika merely shrugged. "Besides, I've been too busy looking into something to bother with showing her the ropes."

"Do whatever you wish, I'm returning," Daityas merely nodded, and walked off.

"I have to go somewhere myself," Ruika said as she walked off. "Have fun."

.

.

Kuro returned to White Eclipse, pushing the doors open with a little difficultly due to his sore muscles from his hours of training, but he made it inside nonetheless, and was greeted with his fellow guild mates. "Hey, everyone!" Kuro said with his usual smile.

"Where were you all day, Kuro?" Nami asked curiously.

"Oh, training with Dait!" Kuro said with a slight grin, but his response left Nami with a sort of pale face. "What's what, Nami…?"

"I don't think you should be around him…" Nami replied, playing with her hands.

"I know you don't lie, but I just think you remembered some things wrong, Nami!" Kuro said with a nod. "He said he feels bad for hurting Taya like that!" Kuro nodded once again, and then hurried off into the kitchen.

"I don't believe him…" Reve said with a grumble, though Kuro wasn't able to hear him.

"There's nothing we can do about that now…" Luke said with a slight sigh while consuming a bag of chips. A few minutes of silence passed, and someone suddenly knocked obnoxiously on the doors. "Door." Luke said.

"Aren't you usually the door man?" Reve asked.

"Not today," Luke replied, gesturing for Reve to get it.

"Lazy…" Reve started as he opened the door, opening it to a young, cute female with long pink hair and dark blue eyes. "Hm? Oh…how can I help you?"

"What's this place?" The girl as she looked to Reve. "The stars led me here!"

Before Reve could respond, Zalen, with fogged glasses, pushed Reve out of the way. "This is White Eclispe!"

"Oh, a guild? Awesome!" The girl said with a smile, but on the inside she was freaking out. In the next second, Kuro walked out of the kitchen, and looked over to see what was going on, when small hearts appeared in his eyes at the sight of the girl.

"W-Who is this…?" Kuro asked as he walked to the door.

The girl stood up, displaying perfect posture, and then smiled towards the three mages. "My name is Saeko Rosei!"

Kuro began tripping over his own words as he started to speak, smiling from ear to ear. "I-I-I'm Kuro! Looking to join!?"

"Sure! I like this place!" Saeko replied.

"Right then…" Reve started to walk up the stairs. "Follow me…"

Saeko grinned at Reve and followed the guns mage up the stairs; however she was so excited she paid no attention to where she was walking, so when she approached the last time, she tripped over it, and fell face first onto the floor. "Uwaah!"

"K-Kawaii…" Kuro commented.

"What…just happened?" Luke asked as he blinked a few times.

"New members, yay!" Aira said rather excitedly.

"New people…ugh…" Selene said in a rather upset and slightly disgusted tone, clearly showing her dislike for new members in the guild.

"Do what I do," Takeru said as he appeared from the shadows. "Ignore them, and maybe they'll go away."

Reve heard the fall, but he didn't turn around because he had to hold back his laughter. So, he sat in a chair, and requipped a tattoo gun. "So, where do you want the guild mark?"

Saeko held her arm up, her voice muffled because of the floor, but she managed to say "here!"

Reve nodded, and stamped the guild mark on Saeko's arm. "Alright, there you go; now there's one more thing you have to do."

Saeko stood up, looking towards Reve. "What's that?"

"Go onto the balcony, and tell people why you became a mage," Reve said.

"Oh, okay!" Saeko skipped to the balcony, and started to give her speech.

While Saeko gave her speech, Luke looked around at the members present to see their input on a new member. Some were quite okay with a new member, while others weren't really too fond of the idea. "Huh…" Luke merely shrugged, and continued to mind his own business.

After Saeko finished her speech, Reve held his hand out, and attempted to push Saeko off the balcony onto the snow, as per White Eclipse tradition. "Nice speech."

"Oh!" Saeko paid no mind to Reve, and instead bent down to pick something shiny off the ground.

Because Saeko ducked, Reve missed completely, and landed in the snow. "…Welcome to White Eclipse…"

A mocking laugh echoed throughout the mountains somewhat as Magnus, and the rest of Cosmic Star, approached the gunslinger. "Oh…how the mighty have fallen…" Magnus said with a chuckle.

"Who the hell…?" Reve picked himself up, dusting the snow off himself as he looked towards Cosmic Star.

"Reve, buddy!" Daryan shouted in glee.

"…Who the hell are you?" Reve asked, completely forgetting his encounter with the dragon slayer.

"Ouch…" Daryan sighed.

"We're Cosmic Star!" Alex said before rushing into the guild, complete uninvited, and the others followed suit.

"What the…!?" Before Reve could object, the guild of five already made their way inside the building.

"Guest?" Aira asked as she looked towards the group of five.

"Hiya!" Alex said in a cheery tone.

"We should really put defenses on this place…people just keep walking in…" Takeru sighed.

"Not like you have long to really see that come through…" Magnus said with a shrug, and his comment instantly caught Takeru's attention, which ended with Magnus receiving a glare from the shadow dragon slayer.

"Helloooo ladies!" Daryan said as he approached Selene and Aira.

"Hi!" Aira said with a wave, while Selene just attempted to be as distant as possible.

"Ah, come on, don't be like that!" Daryan said as he placed a hand on Selene's shoulder, but the diamond mage smacked his hand away with force, causing Daryan to retract it. "Yeesh…hard crowd…"

"Who the hell let these guys in…?" Luke asked as he looked around, purposely avoiding Magnus.

"We let ourselves in, I hope you don't mind," Gaia said with a nod.

"A lot of people seem to do that nowadays…" Luke sighed.

Waiston walked from his room, glancing around at the guest. "Guest…?"

"That's right, we're from Cosmic Star, a rising guild, I could say," Yakuza said while rubbing his finger under his nose. "Heh…"

"Oh?" Waiston jumped from the top of the stairs and landed with a smirk. "Well, this is White Eclipse, the strongest guild in Fiore!"

"We are aware of that," Magnus said. "Though, I personally don't see how you can call yourself the strongest when Fairy Tail still technically holds the spot for number one…"

"Don't get testy with us, guy," Cygnus smirked. "I beat Salamander."

"And you got OHKO'ed by Gildarts Clive," Magnus retorted, and the comment made Cygnus quiet.

"Magnus…" Gaia started while waving a finger disapprovingly. "Don't be rude, we're guest here."

"Uninvited guest…" Reve mumbled as he walked inside, closing the door behind him.

"What's going on here?" Adam asked as he walked into the main room from the back door, looking around. "Guest…? Can I eat them?"

"No," Gaia replied when she looked towards Adam, though when the two looked at each other, everything fell silent for the two of them.

"Hm…?" Adam thought to himself as he caught a scent that was somewhat familiar to him in a general sense. "You…" Adam started.

"Huh…Who've thought..?" Gaia mumbled to herself as she nodded towards Adam respectfully.

"My name is Alex!" Alex said as she pointed to herself, then to the others. "That's Magnus, that's Yakuza, Daryan, an S class like myself, and Gaia, our ace!"

"It's nice to meet you all!" Aira said with a cheeky grin.

"No my dear," Daryan said as he attempted to be suave. "It's nice to me YOU." Before Daryan could continue any further, Selene met Daryan's nose with a diamond fist, which caused him to take a step back from the impact. "Yeesh…!"

Waiston sniffed the air, Yakuza's scent interesting him. "You…what's your magic…?"

"I'm just an ice mage," Yakuza replied with a shrug. "You?"

"Heh, I'm the frozen dragon slayer!" Waiston said with a smirk.

"Dragon slayer…?" Yakuza's interest in the conversation grew suddenly. "Is that so…?" Yakuza held his hand out, manifesting black ice into his open palm. "Because I am the Ice God slayer."

"Ice god? That's cute ice you got there, but mine is better, raised by the frozen dragon herself, you know!" Waiston's smirk widened.

"Oh? Where is she now?" Yakuza asked, but he didn't give time for Waiston to answer as he continued speaking. "I'll take a guess; I bet she left because she realized how inept a learner you were…"

Those vaguely listening to the conversation stopped, and looked towards Yakuza, while Waiston's confident expression vanished. "W-What did you say…?"

"Yakuza, what did I say about being rude!?" Gaia shouted, obviously upset at the mage for acting so rudely. "Waiston, I apologize!"

Heather and Kairi were partially listening to the conversation, and Yakuza's taunting of the sudden abandonment struck a slight nerve in not only Heather, but Selene as well. "How rude…" Heather scoffed under her breath, but Daryan caught sight of her and Kairi, and he immediately rushed over to them to introduce himself.

"Oh, hello, ladies…" Daryan said with a smirk.

"Hi there…" Kairi said, giving a slight wave.

"Name's Daryan, dragon slayer, strongest one, mind you, you are?" Daryan asked.

"Heather…" Heather replied with an almost blank stare.

"Kairi," Kairi nodded.

"Did it heart when you fell from heaven?" Daryan asked Kairi, completely ignoring Heather at this point. "Because, baby, you're an angel."

Kairi blinked a few times before shaking her head. "I am an Angel Takeover mage."

"Huh…" Daryan blinked a few times before giving a subtle shrug.

"These guys are cool!" Saeko said as she walked down the stairs, but she tripped on the last step, and landed face first on the floor.

"Clumsy…" Alex giggled.

.

.

A once bustling town was now nothing more than a frozen wasteland, but something was different about this frozen city. There wasn't just ice covering the entirety of it, but there were also traces of ashes in certain areas, suggesting that some sort of mixture of fire and ice occurred here. Layanna, the new member of the Magic Council, observed this city as she walked around, mumbling to herself about what happened. "The people here are frozen solid…buildings are burnt…ashes are everywhere…"

Somewhere nearby in the same town, two females couldn't help but giggle at Layanna's attempt to figure out what happened. "It doesn't take a smart one to figure out what happened here, eh?" Maggie said while nudging Ur's shoulder.


	38. Chapter 38: Sands of Life

"I don't like their attitudes…" Sidney said as he looked towards the Cosmic Star members. "Too cheery, too rude, too annoying…I could on…"

"Come on, Sidney!" Kuro said happily, yet he was obviously objecting to the behavior of the ghost mage.

"That ice god slayer is extremely disrespectful," Sidney replied. "If it were me instead of Waiston, I would've put my foot down."

"I admit…that was kinda uncalled for…" Kuro said while sighing softly.

"I don't really approve of their attitudes either, Sidney," Jack said while taking a sip from his mug of beer. Though drunk, he could make fair judgment about their guests thus far.

"I'm with you two on this…" Luke nodded over to Sidney and Kuro.

Daryan looked around, his expression making it seem as though he was lost, but instead, he was just looking at the dragon slayers around. "I see like, four dragon slayers around here…but no exceeds…"

"Again with the exceed business…" Waiston said with a slight frown, remembering an incident several months ago where Michio made an illusion flying polar bear only to mess with him.

"Do you have an exceed?" Heather asked while raising a brow.

"Of course I do! Best Exceed around, too!" Daryan smirked, holding his arm out, whistling right after. A few seconds later, Hiruka appeared, flying through the front doors, and landed on Daryan's arm.

"Daryan is the strongest dragon slayer, aye!" Hiruka nodded.

"Talking…Cat…" Aira said while staring at Hiruka.

"Exceed…" Luke started to groan.

"I don't like talking cats…" Aira said quietly.

"I don't like talking cats that can fly…" Luke said in response to Aira.

"What'cha got against Exceeds!?" Hiruka shouted as he flew up in Aira and Luke's faces, narrowing his eyes at the two.

"Everything," Luke said in an honest tone.

"I just don't like talking cats…" Aira replied while taking a casual step back.

"Hm…" Magnus looked around, taking note of people's reactions. "So, they don't know, do they?" Magnus asked Takeru.

"What are you talking about, guy?" Takeru asked with a raised brow, but he had some idea on what Magnus was referring to, as he heard from Luke that Magnus knew many, if not everything happening around him.

"Your impending death, of course," Magnus replied, an indifferent expression over his face.

"W-What…?" Takeru narrowed his eyes while glaring at the mage in front of him. "How do you know about that…?"

"I know most things," Magnus merely replied. "I can tell you haven't told a soul here because everyone seems to be as chipper as one can be."

"Tch…" Takeru turned his head away, not in the mood for that kind of conversation, especially from a stranger. "I think you've overstayed your welcome, guy."

"It appears you won't…" Magnus sighed, before clearing his throat starting to raise his voice so everyone could hear him. "Attention, White Eclipse, I have an important announcement!"

"I wonder what this guy has to say…" Luke sighed while rolling his eyes.

"Listening!" Alex said while turning to Magnus attentively.

"It appears, since your friend here won't made the announcement until god knows when, I'll make it for him." Magnus started. Takeru immediately attempted to silence Magnus by stabbing him in the back with his shadow katana, but it was to no avail, as Magnus merely stepped to the side.

"What's this about Tak?" Taya asked while placing her hands on her hips.

"He only has about seven and a half months to live, give or take a few months," Magnus said, and his action shocked the White Eclipse members.

"That's not a funny joke," Selene said while glaring at Magnus.

"Oh, my dear…I'm afraid I'm not joking," Magus replied to Selene.

"Yes you are!" Selene replied, and then looked to Takeru to back her up. "He's kidding, right?"

Takeru remained silent for a few seconds before he eventually shook his head. "He's not…"

"What!?" Selene's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say anything earlier!?"

"I can only assume that he didn't want to ruin anyone's parade…" Magnus shrugged.

"They've heard enough from you…!" Takeru growled at Magnus, which caused the mage to back off slightly.

"You really pick bad times to tell people stuff…!" Alex shouted, almost angrily towards Magnus.

"My ability is both a blessing and a curse, but I have no control, or care, for how people will react when they hear things like this." Magnus replied.

"So, why are you telling us this now?" Reve asked while eying Magnus.

"Simple," Magnus replied. 'There is no medicinal cure for what Takeru has."

"W-What!?" Selene's eyes widened even more, and then she turned to Takeru. "What happened!? How did this happen to you!?"

"A few weeks ago…" Takeru started with a sigh. "Arc and I went on some S class jobs, and on one of them, we met with this mage…he was from a guild called Silent Sanctum, I think we've had a small encounter with them before six months ago…"

"I remember something like that…" Reve said. "Stupid asshole with his shield…" Reve shook his head.

"Anyway…he almost killed Arc and I…the only reason he didn't was because he said something about his master calling for him. Arc had it the worst and I couldn't just let him die…so I used my magic to heal him, but at a price…"

"Your life span…" Selene continued, but she then shook her head in disbelief. "There has to be a cure!"

"There is none," Magnus replied, but his realist attitude only received the coldest glare one could receive from Selene.

"There has to be something!" Aira said with panic obvious in her voice.

"Normally I'd say to help yourself," Zain started. "But this is serious, so if I find anything, you'll owe me one."

"Zain..." Takeru's eyes widened somewhat at his rival's sincerity.

"You won't find anything," Arc said as he walked into the room, his tone of voice different than usual.

"A-arc...!" Taya said, looking towards the demon slayer. She noticed the change in his voice, and she didn't have a good feeling about it, but she wasn't sure what he was up to.

Arc walked over to Takeru, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I've decided..."

"Decided what, Arc?" Taya asked, hoping that Arc wasn't about to do what she thought he was going to.

"You saved me, so now, it's my turn to save you," Arc said as his body started to glow, beginning the process of transferring all of his magical energy to Takeru.

"W-What's he doing?!" Gaia shouted, bewildered at Arc's actions.

"Arc, no!" Taya shouted, her eyes widening her horror. No one else uttered a word; the only thing they did was watch as Arc's body started to turn into sand.

Takeru obviously objected to this, and he placed both his hands on Arc's hand, desperately trying to pry Arc's hand off, but Arc only tightened his grip. "They'd miss you more than they'd miss me. They need you here, as for me, not so much..." Arc flashed a genuine smile to Takeru before his body turned into sand completely, and fell to the floor, and everyone, including Magnus, stood there in shock.

"A-Arcturus!" Taya's jaw dropped, her eyes as wide as they could be as Arc vanished.

.

.

From an undisclosed location, Ruika was watching through an eye the events transpiring at White Eclipse, an interested look etched onto her features as she watched the death of Arc. "He killed himself to save that useless dragon slayer...?" The celestial mage then shook her head, realizing that this was exactly what Daityas wanted in the long run. "He died a lot sooner than Dait predicted...This will be excellent..." Ruika then found a nearby place to sit by, and proceeded to do so, continuing to watch the events at White Eclipse. "But, that news can wait..."

.

.

"YOU..." Takeru threw an enraged punch towards Magnus, but the mage swayed to the side, narrowly avoiding the punch.

"You're going to say this was my fault?" Magnus asked, though it was a rhetorical question, as he answered before Takeru could even speak again. "It wasn't, it was your own for being so careless..."

"Oi!" Luke stepped up, annoyed with Magnus' nonchalant attitude about the situation. "I've had enough of your attitude…"

Magnus merely shrugged Luke off. "I thought I already told you, I don't associate myself with those who don't deserve to be mages."

"Okay you know what…" Luke started, but Heather placed a hand on his shoulder, basically telling him Magnus wasn't worth it.

"I think you've overstayed your welcome…" Sidney said as he approached the five mages.

"Way to go, Magnus…" Alex sighed. "Such a partypooper sometimes, you know that?"

"I suppose it can't be helped," Yakuza sighed. "Adios, lesser ice mage," Yakuza said to Waiston as he walked out, not giving the ice dragon slayer to make any comeback, so Waiston just stood there, his fist clenched.

"I apologize…" Gaia nodded her head, and then looked to Adam once more, nodding sternly as she stepped out.

"Gomen…" Alex bowed apologetically multiple times, and then walked out after Gaia.

"I have nothing to apologize for," Magnus said simply. "But, I do hope your friend rests in peace…or at the beach…" Magnus' last comment was completely unnecessary, and it only brought rage from everyone else, especially Taya and Takeru. Taya formed a single vector, and allowed it to launch towards Magnus, but Magnus, without even looking back, swayed his body to the side, avoiding the vector with ease, and then continued walking. "Close."

"Aw man…I was hoping I could get a nice fight in today too…" Daryan sighed as he followed behind.

"Don't worry, Daryan!" Hiruka said with a reassuring tone. "You'll show them all soon enough!"

.

.

"Oh, what an exhausting day…" Diana held her feet up on the couch of Silent Sanctum, yawning loudly.

"Indeed, it has been quite exhausting…" Blake nodded, taking a seat on the bar.

"Oh, you two are back…" Jikan said as he walked into the main room, somewhat surprised by the presence of the two god slayers.

"We've only managed to find three other god slayers, and only two of them have potential…" Diana sighed.

"I see…" Jikan merely shrugged. "Oh, I believe you two haven't been caught up to current events? We could've used you a while ago."

"Hm? What happened?" Diana asked curiously as she looked over to Jikan.

"Long story short, the reason Siegrain is now in office in the Magic Council is because we managed trick Jellal into making him, however, this came at a price, as now we lost Ultear Milkovich, thanks to Sensory Magic," Jikan explained.

"Oh, sensory magic…bleh…" Diana scrunched her face up at the mention of it. "Disgusting…"

"What would you need us for?" Blake asked.

"Well, with your assistance, we might have been able to keep Mlikovich, but it appears we'll have to do that later…" Jikan sighed slightly, and then held out his pocket watch, glancing at the time. "It's only a matter of time, old man…"

.

.

An explosion rocked the frozen town, and Layanna slid back across the ice, digging her feet into the icy ground, shattering the ice in the process. Layanna was in her Arc Angel armor, which was just a basic suit of armor, but there were angel wings sprouting from the back, which Layanna would use to fly if she needed to. Layanna looked to the pair of assailants, Maggie Solfatara, and Ur Mlikovich. Layanna was usually the quiet type, but even she couldn't stay quiet at the sight of Ur. "You're supposed to be dead…" Layanna said to Ur, who merely shrugged the comment off.

"Actually, if anyone's supposed to be dead, it should be you," Ur replied, sliding into the ice make pose for the first time in a long time. "Ice Make: Rose Garden!" Ur threw her hands down to the ground, and beautifully crafted crystallized rose garden shot up from the ground. Layanna, however, was able to avoid the Rose Garden by using her power of flight, shooting up in to the air.

"Ah, ah, ah, where do you think you're going, love?" Maggie said in a taunting tone as her arm extended into a lava whip, which wrapped around Layanna's leg. Maggie then brought her arm down to slam Layanna into the ice, but to Maggie's surprise, the council member adapted to the situation rather quickly, and used her sword, Angelica (A somewhat thick sword which angel wings at the hilt), and slashed Maggie's arm, though Layanna was surprised that her blade went through Maggie's lava arm cleanly, and even more so that Maggie was unharmed. "That was rude; you could've chopped my arm off." Maggie said as she retracted her arms.

"Lava body…" Layanna said to herself as she landed on the ground, wincing slightly as she felt a burning sensation on her leg. Maggie's lava whip may not have worked the way Maggie intended for it to, but it did leave a second degree burn on Layanna's ankle. "That's…not going to make things work…" Layanna then shook her head, and then turned to the two opposing females with a serious look. "Turn yourselves in now."

"Is she ordering us around?" Ur asked.

"She's trying to, love," Maggie replied.

"If that's not enough, allow me…" Aloy said as he sped into the area with his meteor; the thought projection's presence was a sign for the two Tartaros mages to back off.

"Oh…great…" Maggie sighed.

"Captain Aloy…" Layanna looked towards the captain.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourselves, criminals?" Aloy asked, raising a brow.

"One word…" Maggie replied, her cheeks starting to puff out. "Ashfall…" Maggie threw her head forward, unleashing a powerful burst of ash that covered the area. When the ash faded, Ur and Maggie were gone.

"They escaped…" Layanna mumbled.

"They'll be back…" Aloy said, thinking to himself how brash Tartaros seemed to be getting, though neither he, nor Aloysius heard any word from them in a while. Something he decided would have to chance soon.

.

.

It was nightfall in Magnolia town. Natsu, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Cynthia Lucy, and Erza were all walking in the somewhat empty streets of Magnolia, all going to Lucy's house. Lucy looked around the empty city as a slight chill found its way up her back. "It's so empty…" Lucy said aloud, almost as if she was asking for someone outside her group of friends to answer.

"It's been like this since the assassin has been attacking…" Erza said as she looked around.

"I'm scared…" Cynthia said with a slight whimper. "What if that assassin attacks someone from Fairy Tail…?"

"I won't let them!" Natsu roared out, but he was immediately shushed by the three females.

"Quiet down, Natsu-san!" Wendy said with a slight pout. "Just because it's quiet out here, doesn't mean people aren't sleeping…!"

"A-Ah…I guess you're right…" Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"It is unusually quiet, however," Carla commented as she looked around, continuing this for a few seconds before an open window caught her attention. "Hey…look at that!" Carla pointed towards the open window.

"That's nothing to worry about, Carla!" Happy said in a cool, reassuring tone. "People leave their windows open at night all the time!"

"…Even when there's an assassin roaming the country…?" Carla asked as she crossed her arms, giving Happy a look, which quickly made him realize, or so she thought he realized.

"Maybe they went out to get fish really quick!" Happy grinned, the thought of fish starting to make his eyes sparkle and his mouth water.

"Not everything is about fish, Happy," Carla sighed, but the fellow exceed was already too far gone in his fist fantasies.

Lucy looked at the window, placing her hand under her chin as she began to think aloud about the situation. "It's a little odd for a window to be open this late at night…especially when…" Lucy was going to continue, but she cut herself sort when she saw an unfamiliar shadow crouched on the window, looking around; Lucy covered her mouth with her hands as she gasped, her eyes widened at what she believed she saw. "T-That's…!"

Erza was the next person to catch on, and her suspicions were confirmed the moment the shadow leapt from the window and onto the nearby roof. "The assassin!"

"Happy! Let's go!" Natsu shouted.

"Aye, sir!" Happy's wings sprouted from his back, and he picked up Natsu, flying him up to the roof, and dropped him off so he could give chase. "Get 'em, Natsu!"

"Hey, you!" Natsu shouted as he reared his left arm back, clenching his fist as fire wrapped around it. "You're the assassin; I can smell the blood on you!" Skye (The assassin if you forgot), turned at the sound of Natsu's voice, surprised that anyone had seen her, though her mask covered her face, and she wasn't really surprised, because the sweet, innocent Skye seemed to be in some sort of trance. Skye merely requiped, but it was a different weapon then she used thus far. It was a large ring, resembling a hula-hoop, with sharp blades on the exterior of the rim. This was Skye's Biofrost, a highly defensive weapon. Skye twirled around with the dangerous weapon in hand, and even someone as reckless as Natsu could see the danger of the weapon, so he planted his feet on the ground, skidding to a halt a few feet away from Skye. "I can't get close to that…!" Natsu then had an idea; he started to puff his cheeks out as fire formed around his lips. Before Natsu could fire off his Fire Dragon's Roar, Skye pulled out multiple pellets from her assassin's outfit, and hurled them towards Natsu, all of which exploded around the Salamander, not only damaging him, but created a thick smoke screen which hindered his movement. "D-Dammit!" While Natsu as distracted, Skye attempted to escape once again by hopping from rooftop to roof top.

"Natsu's in trouble!" Lucy said as she and Cynthia ran across the streets, while Carla took Wendy into the air.

"We have to help him!" Cynthia shouted.

"Kanso!" A heavenly light appeared around Erza's body as she jumped high into the air, now in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. Erza then created a multitude of swords above her, and then sent them all towards Skye. Skye showed no emotion as the rain of swords approached her; instead she used her highly trained eyes to avoid the incoming swords, performing various maneuvers, such as quick steps from side to side, slides, and even backflips, which allowed her to escape the assault unscathed, much to Erza's surprise. "W-What!?" Erza said in an obviously shocked tone as Skye continued on her way, but Erza used her armor's flight advantage to swoop in with two swords in hand, and slash at Skye repeatedly.

Skye watched as the tenacious Titania gave pursuit, so she held her hands out, replacing Biofrost with her two silent blades so she could match Erza in sword combat. Both Skye and Erza seemed to be relatively even in swordsmanship. Skye eventually dodged a slash from Erza, and landed a vertical slash on Erza's exposed stomach, a deep gash as well, as Erza grunted before falling from the sky. "…"

"Erza!" Lucy shouted, but she then pulled out a key. "Gate of the Ram, I open thee! Aries!" A golden light shimmered on the tip of the key as a magic circle appeared, to which Aries arrived a few seconds later. "Aries, help Erza!"

"Y-Yes…!" Aries nodded, and then held her hands out. "Wool bomb!" A large puff of pink wool appeared, cushioning Erza's fall.

"Erza, are you alright!?" Lucy asked.

"I-I'm fine…hurry can catch them!" Erza shouted, wincing noticeably from the stomach wound.

"O-Okay!" Lucy nodded, holding out yet another key. "Gate of the Lion, I open thee! Loke!" Another golden light shimmered from the key, and Loke appeared, fixing the cuffs on his suit.

"You called?" Loke asked.

Lucy then pointed to the roof tops, just as Skye made it out of her sight. "Up there!"

"Understood!" Loke nodded, and then hopped up onto the roof tops.

"Carla, I think I can hit them!" Wendy shouted.

"Good luck, Wendy!" Carla nodded, flying a little higher into the air before dropping Wendy, allowing the small dragon slayer to carry out her plan.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy threw her arms down, unleashing sharp whirlwinds in Skye's direction, but the assassin managed to dodge by leaping into the sky; Wendy's attack only succeeded in utterly destroying the rooftop. "Wah!"

"Wendy, look out!" Cynthia jumped up, tackling Wendy out of the sky and down to the ground, not a second too soon as Skye hurled various poison bombs at the sky dragon, but since Cynthia moved Wendy, they failed to strike their target, and just exploded in the air.

"T-Thanks, Cynthia…" Wendy said as she let out a sigh of relief.

"Where do you think you're going?" Loke asked as he slid in front of the assassin, his fist pulled back as his Regulas activated. Loke then swung his fist towards Skye, but Skye managed to avoid the punch by ducking low. With her fist clenched, Skye landed a surprisingly fast uppercut on Loke's chin, sending the spirit staggering back a few feet and almost off the rooftop. Skye, now almost out of the town, continued to make her escape, but she was stopped by a determined Salamander, who almost landed a Fire Dragon's Talons on her head, but she dodged at the last second, and Natsu's foot hit the roof top, destroying it.

"You're not going anywhere!" Natsu immediately brought himself up; his fist covered his flames as he actually managed to land a hit on Skye; a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist at her stomach, which threw the assassin for a loop as she slid back a few feet. Natsu then puffed his cheeks out, unleashing a Fire Dragon's Roar towards Skye.

"Tch…" Skye jumped high into the air, avoiding Natsu's attack, and swung her leg at Natsu's side, sending the Salamander tumbling away. After this, Skye made her escape, leaving the town.

"She got away…" Cynthia groaned.

"Like hell she did," Natsu said with a slight smirk. "I got her scent, and there's no way she's getting away!" Before anyone else could say anything to Natsu, the Salamander already ran off in hot pursuit of the assassin.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted, starting to follow Natsu, but Happy realized it was almost useless to even try.


	39. Chapter 39: What's Behind The Scenes?

Natsu lifted his head into the air, sniffing out for the scent of the assassin. For some reason, the scent had a hint of familiarity to it, but Natsu couldn't put his finger on it. Had he met the person before? No, it didn't seem likely. Had they been in a place he had been to before? That was probably it, and to Natsu, it seemed like the only explanation. Natsu continued this search until he arrived at the base of a familiar mountain. "Why is the scent leading me…" Natsu asked himself before shaking his head, continuing up the mountain.

On the same mountain, Takeru was out, gathering his thoughts as he thought back to Arc sacrificing himself so Takeru could continue living. "We were like brothers…" Takeru said to himself, before he eventually ran into Natsu, snapping him back into his senses. "Salamander?!"

"Takeru!?" Natsu temporarily forgot about what he was doing once he took sight of Takeru. "What are you doing here?!"

"No, what are YOU doing here?! This is the mountain White Eclipse is on, after all!" Takeru replied, cutting his eyes at Natsu.

Natsu then shook his head, remembering why he even bothered to be in the vicinity of anything White Eclipse. "The assassin."

"The what?" Takeru blinked, almost clueless.

"The assassin!" Natsu shouted. "The one going around killing people!"

"Oh, I've heard about that…." Takeru replied. "But, what's that have to do with you being here?"

"I fought the assassin in town, and they escaped, but I got their scent and it led me right to here!" Natsu replied. "What do you have to say about that!?"

"I'd say you're crazy if you insist on suggestion someone from White Eclispe did it," Takeru replied to Natsu with a scowl forming on his lips, the two now circling each other as Natsu lit his hand in flames, and Takeru lit his in shadows. Before either of the dragon slayers could go any farther, a trail of stalagmites rushed towards the pair of dragon slayers. Before the stalagmites hit, Takeru instinctively used the shadows around his hand to push Natsu out of the way, and he rolled back, springing up into a crouched position.

Tobias emerged from the shadows, starting a sarcastic slow clap. "Well, well…look what I ran into on my way back home…"

Natsu stood next to Takeru, his hand lit in flames as he glared at the dark mage. "What do you want!?"

"To have some fun," Tobias said with a sly smirk.

.

.

The sunlight entered Skye's room, causing the young requip mage to stir before waking up, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Mmm…" Skye stretched and looked around her room. "That was a weird dream last night…" She shrugged, and then exited her room, entering the main room, seeing that things were just about as lively as before.

"Skye-chan!" Saeko said with a bright smile and wave. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Saeko!" Skye said with a wave. "How did you sleep?"

"I overslept!" Saeko replied. "How about you!"

"I slept great…but I had a weird dream…" Skye merely shrugged.

"Has anyone see Tak?" Selene asked with a hint of worry in her voice. "He hasn't come back…"

"The better question is…" Luke started as he rubbed his head. "Did anyone feel that tremor last night…?"

"I fell off my bed because of it…" Heather replied, blowing air out of her lips to move a strand of her vanilla blonde hair out of her face.

"I wonder what even caused that…" Aira said while rubbing the back of her head. "Tremors in the mountains aren't that common…especially around here…"

"I hope Tak is alright…" Selene said with a slight frown.

"He's Tak, he'll be fine," Luke nodded.

"Skye, come here…" Sidney said, motioning for Skye to come over.

"Hm?" Skye skipped over to Sidney, but the ghost mage shook his head.

"No, go back, and walk over to me like a big girl," Sidney said as he pointed back to where Skye walked from. Skye sighed, walked back, and then walked back to Sidney. "Good. Now then, Skye, you've heard of the assassin, right?"

"Yeah…" Skye nodded. "Saeko just told me that several more people were assassinated last night…"

"Yes, that is rather unfortunate…but, Skye, I've been watching you as you sleep. You sleep walk, or something to that degree, as you leave your room in the middle of the night." Sidney replied as he looked at Skye, whose facial expression went from cheerful to somewhat worried. "And, you leave around the time those deaths are recorded…"

"W-What are you saying…?" Skye asked.

"I'm not saying you're the assassin, as I can't be sure of that yet, but I'm just letting you know of your actions late at night," Sidney replied.

Skye nodded slowly, sighing softly to herself. "I…I see…"

.

.

Tobias walked inside the Tartaros castle, a slight limp in his step as he tried to walk without showing it, but Sora and Ur caught onto Tobias as soon as he walked past him. "Tobias!" Sora said with a cheeky grin.

"Shit…" Tobias thought, but he looked to Sora with a slight smile. "Oh, hello, Sora…and Ur…"

"What the hell happened to you?" Ur asked as she crossed her arms. "You look like you've taken a beating."

"I just fought Salamander and some White Eclipse mage…" Tobias said while waving a dismissive hand.

"And lost," Ur stated, not giving Tobias any time to come up with a lie. "Dait's not going to be happy with you, but lucky for you; his attention is on other matters right now."

"Other…matters?" Tobias blinked a few times, knowing he was nowhere near in the clear because of the punishment Daityas was going to give him for losing to two legal mages.

"Matters that require all the members present," Ur said, walking behind Tobias and kicking his rear, causing him to stumble forward. "Come on, get your ass in gear, idiot," Ur continued this as she led Tobias into the main room, with Sora happily following behind. Eventually, the three made it into the main room, where Kiora, Maggie, Mithril, Rugal, Ruika, Zancrow, Rustyrose, and Daityas himself were all gathered.

"Your punishment will come after the ceremony," Daityas said with his back turned to Tobias.

"How does word get out so fast…!?" Tobias groaned.

"Hi," Ruika waved to Tobias, an innocent smile on her face.

"I hate you…" Tobias groaned.

"Shut up, Tobias," Maggie said as she looked to Daityas. "So, what's the big deal?"

"Simple, first off…" Daityas walked over to Mithril. "Mithril, my friend, you've been a part of this guild almost as long as I have, correct?"

The "man" nodded, a smirk drawn on his lips. "I guess so…been a while…heh…"

"Because of this, I dub you, Mithril, the SS class mage of Tartaros," Daityas said with a nod.

"Yay Mithril!" Sora said with a grin.

"SS class dragon…" Rustyrose said with a sense of shock.

"Rustyrose, what did we talk about?" Kiora asked, cutting her eyes at Rusty.

"Never talk unless you say so…" Rustyrose growled a bit under his breath, but Kiora merely smirked.

"Ha…bitch made…" Zancrow couldn't help but snicker, but Maggie looked over to Zancrow, and he immediately shut up.

"And that leads me into the next thing," Daityas smirked slightly as he walked over to Maggie and Kiora. "Since you two were formerly S class mages in your old guilds, I'm restoring your status as S classes."

"What…? That's not fair…" Ruika complained.

"Yeah, what about me?" Tobias almost shouted.

"You lost to a pair of legal mages so what about you?" Ur asked rather sharply.

"Ah, yes, and as for you, Ur," Daityas said with a slight grin. "Since you were a candidate for the Ten Wizard Saints before you died, you are also going to be named an S class for Tartaros."

"Three S classes…?" Rugal raised a brow in interest. "And one SS class…we're becoming more formidable by the second…."

.

.

Natsu groaned as he woke up slowly, flinching as he sat up. "Ugh, what happened…" Natsu looked around, noticing he was covered in bandages. But when he saw Takeru, he noticed that the shadow dragon slayer was mostly, if not all, covered in bandages. "Whoa…"

"Tch, you're awake…" Takeru said as he stood up, his voice muffled due to the bandages. "That Tobias guy was something else…"

"No kidding…" Natsu replied with a groan, standing up. "I lost the scent of the assassin for now…I guess I better go back…" Natsu then turned to Takeru, but the shadow dragon slayer already left the undisclosed location, leaving Natsu alone. "Hey….wait! Get back here!"

.

.

In the town of Magnolia, Correll was examining the destruction left from the night before, seeing how people were quite unhappy with the damages. "Hm…"

"What the hell happened here?" Gray asked as he pushed his way through a few people, looking around at the mostly destroyed rooftops of the town.

At the sound of Gray's voice, Correll turned around with a sly smirk, his arms crossed as he spoke out to the ice make mage. "That's what I want to know, Fairy Tail mage."

"Oi, what's with that tone of voice?" Gray asked as he narrowed his eyes at Correll.

"Oh, I don't know, you tell me," Correll said as he approached Gray. "It seems as though there was quite a bit of property damage last night, would you care to explain what that's all about?"

"Are you blaming me for this just because I'm in Fairy Tail?" Gray asked, his expression slowly turning more into a serious one, while Correll just maintained his smirk, knowing Gray knew that he couldn't do anything without serious consequences.

"Well, Fairy Tail is the only guild in this town, so it only makes sense," Correll nodded.

"I was at the guild last night, you can ask Mirajane, Alzack, or the master," Gray replied as he stripped his shirt and pants off unknowingly, now standing before the council captain in only his black boxers. "Oh, and probably Juvia.'

"Put your shirt back on before I arrest you for indecent exposure," Correll said in a slightly irritated tone at Gray's habit to strip.

"What are you…?" Gray looked down; jumping once he realized his clothes were gone. "Dammit…why does that always happen?!"

"Just put your clothes back on, dammit!" Correll shouted. "Before I arrest you! You have three seconds, Fullbuster! ONE!"

"Oi, what's goin' on out here…?" Bacchus asked as he walked from the bar, rubbing his head with his gourd in hand.

"Bacchus?" Correll turned at the sound of the voice, only to see the S class drunken falcon of Qautro Cerberus. "How long have you been in there?"

"Me…? Uh…" Bacchus looked at his gourd for a second, and then rubbed the back of his head when it suddenly came back to him. "Ah…guess I was here all night…" Bacchus said with a nod.

"Did you happen to see anything while you were out there?" Correll asked, almost as though he were interrogating the mage.

"I heard a lotta noise outside, so I went to go take a quick peak," Bacchus continued. "And I think I saw Salamander, Erza, that celestial mage, and perhaps a few others. They seemed to be chasing someone, however."

"I see…that's all I needed to hear, thank you Bacchus," Correll said with a smirk.

"Not a problem," Bacchus nodded, turning around after, and proceeded to walk off, but as he did so, he held his hand up, a smirk now appearing on his face. "Better luck next time, Nee-chan."

"Eh…?" Gray looked around to see who Bacchus was referring to, and seconds later, a near hung-over Cana stumbled out of the bar.

"The only crime that fairy is guilty of is destruction of her kidneys…" Correll merely shrugged after, then turned to Gray. "So, you won't mind if I accompany you back to Fairy Tail, do you?"

Gray walked over to Cana first, supporting the drunken mage, looking over to Correll after. "Depends on what you want from us."

"I just want to ask some questions, that's all," Correll replied.

Gray didn't trust Correll at all, but he knew he couldn't deny Correll's request, as he knew the councilman would use and abuse his power, so he complied, despite how much he didn't want to. "Tch…"

"I'll take that as a yes," Correll smirked. "Good choice too, it would've been a shame if I had to arrest you for something other than indecent exposure."

From around the corner, Daryan, and Alex were watching the situation with some interest. "So…Fairy Tail still can't get their act together, eh?"

"Why are we snooping around in the first place, Daryan…?" Alex asked while looking towards the fellow S class.

"I just wanted to see what was going on with the strongest guild in Fiore, that's all…Plus your sister is here, right?" Daryan asked without even looking back.

"Cynthia…yes!" Alex's eyes lit up excitedly, but her hair quickly flashed white, her personality changing for a split second before she turned to normal. "Can we go to Fairy Tail, Daryan? Pleasssse!?"

"Yeah yeah, we're going, don't worry!" Daryan replied. "I wanna see how this plays out…"

Just behind Daryan and Alex, Rylo of Twilight Zone used his thief magic to camouflage with the building, while Flynn his in a trash can. "Why are we snooping around...?" Flynn asked in a hushed whisper.

"We're doing recon, of course," Rylo replied in a whisper. "Evanee wants us to keep an eye on the red head as well, and it seems she's caught interest in Fairy Tail..."

"I have to admit, I'm curious about what's going on there..." Fylnn whispered.

"Same here, and it doesn't look like we can do our mission without seeing what happens, so keep quiet, and let's focus on our mission."


	40. Chapter 40: Rising Tension

Correll kicked the Fairy Tail doors open, a smirk on his face as he got everyone's attention immediately upon doing so, walking inside as though he had total control over the guild as Gray carried Cana inside. Alright, Fairy Tail! Listen up!" Correll shouted, though his shouting only managed to get Makarov up from his seat, looking up at the council man curiously.

"Is there something wrong?" Makarov asked.

"Damn right there is!" Correll said as his smirk widened, and he scanned the guild, looking for most of Team Natsu. "Where's Heartfilia, Titania, and Salamander?"

Upon hearing the name Titania, Evergreen started to move forward, since she considered herself to he the true Titania. "Right here~". Evergreen said as she fanned herself, batting her eyes flirtatiously at Correll.

"There she goes..." Freed sighed, looking away from the scene.

"Ever, you're embarrassing us, baby..." Bickslow groaned slightly, bringing a hand onto his mask to facepalm.

"...Perhaps I should've been more clear..." Correll coughed slightly before taking a step around Ever, making it clear he wasn't interested in her in the slightest, which caused the Fairy Mage's face to gain a comical shocked expression as her entire body paled. "Where's Erza?"

"I heard you the first time," Erza said to Corell as she and Lucy walked out of the infirmary, her arms crossed. "Is there something you need?"

"Answers," Correll replied to Erza, tapping his foot slightly as he nudged his head to the outside. "Care to explain those damaged outside?"

"Damages?" Erza blinked a few times before she realized what Correll was referring to. "You mean the rooftops?"

"Yes, that's right. There are a lot of unhappy people right now, and according to a witness, you, and Heartfilia over there are to blame," Correll tapped his foot on the ground, awaiting an explanation for the property damage.

"W-We didn't mean to!" Lucy shouted, attempting to get her point across, but Correll wasn't having it with that weak excuse.

"Oh, don't give me that shitty excuse!" Correll scoffed. "You never seem to mean to do damage, but you always end up doing it one way or another, eh?"

"We were chasing after someone." Erza replied coolly, even though all the eyes in the guild were either glaring at Correll or awaiting a response from Erza that would shut Correll up.

"That's right!" Wendy said defensively, hoping to back Erza up. "Carla, Happy, and I were there!"

"So, you were there too, huh?" Correll raised a brow as he looked to the young sky dragon slayer.

"I was too!" Cynthia jumped up.

"Why does that not surprise me..." Correll sighed. "So, what I'm hearing is that I have a reason to arrest you all?"

"I don't think that is what's being said at all." Lisanna said over to Correll.

"A Man would listen to a story before making assumptions!" Elfman shouted, glaring at Correll, and the other members started to riot, saying how Correll wasn't giving fair justice because he wasn't going to listen to the story on what happened.

Correll merely smirked at the guild's riot, shaking his head slowly as he spoke with a dominate tone. "I could arrest you all for obstruction of justice, but I'll play along, and I'll listen, since that seems to be the only thin that will shut you up. What was happening that night?"

"We ran into the assassin last night," Erza replied calmly.

"Ha! Likely excuse!" Correll replied, not believing the story for even a second.

"It's true!" Happy flailed. "I saw the assassin with my own two eyes!"

"Is that so?" Correll took a step close to Erza, a smirk curled on his lips. "I find it hard to believe that quite a few Fairy Tail mages were unable to catch an assassin, but they were able to cause quite a bit of property damage!"

"What are you insinuating?" Erza asked, leaning her face back slightly as Correll stepped forward.

"You honestly can't be saying that they caused the damage on purpose!" Gray objected.

"Hm...I just remembered that the witness said he saw Salamander around with you as well, where is he, huh?" Correll asked as he looked around. "He's almost always in here, right?"

"I haven't seen Natsu since last night..." Lucy frowned. "He went off to chase the assassin..."

"Is that so? Then where is he now? Hiding from his crimes, perhaps?" Correll continued, mentally tallying up the multiple crimes he could pin on Natsu from just this one incident.

"That's preposterous!" Makarov boomed in defense of Natsu.

"Pipe down, old man, Councilman is working here," Correll replied with a dismissive tone to the wizard saint.

"We're telling the truth!" Wendy said, pleading for Correll to listen.

"Guess this'll be something to write down in my quota," Correll smirked as he pulled out magic sealing cuffs, but before he could do anything else, the Fairy Tail doors opened once again.

"Correll...calm down..." Layanna said as she walked inside the guild with a heavily bandaged Natsu.

"Natsu!?" Lucy immediately rushed over to the injured Natsu. "What happened to you?!"

"Correll...lets return to the Council...there is something I have to share with everyone..." Layanna nodded slowly, and walked out.

"Tch...this isn't the end, Fairy Tail..." Correll scoffed and walked out.

"What did I miss...?" Natsu said with a slight grin.

"That's not important right now," Mirajane said with worry in her voice. "Who did this to you?"

"Oh, this?" Natsu looked down to his bandages. "While I was hunting down the assassin, I ran into Takeru of White Eclipse, and some dark mage named Tobias attacked us."

Lucy's face paled at the mention of Tobias, remembering him well from her and Luke's battle against the Tartaros mage over six months ago. "T-Tobias..?"

"You know him, Lucy?" Natsu asked with a puzzled expression.

"You don't remember...? He was a part of Fiore's End on the Tartaros side...He almost killed me, but Luke was the one who almost died instead," Lucy replied.

"Oh. I remember that...I was scared..." Cynthia said with a nod.

"CYNTHIA!" Alex rushed through the front doors, unable to stay concealed any longer as she tackle hugged Cynthia to the ground.

"WAH! ALEX!" Cynthia yelped in surprise from the tackle hug, but she returned the hug nonetheless.

"I told you I'd come visit!" Alex shouted as her grip increased. Wendy huffed slightly, crossing her arms, but she managed to keep her usual soft smile as she watched Cynthia and Alex reunite once again.

"You look jealous," Gajeel said with a taunting smirk.

"I'm not jealous!" Wendy replied, poking her tongue out childishly at Gajeel, who simply patted her head tauntingly.

"Gihehe, whatever you say, kid."

"Ah, drat...I suppose it was too much to ask of her to stay quiet..." Daryan laughed slightly as he too walked inside.

"What are you doing here?" Laxus narrowed his eyes at Daryan, who merely shrugged him off.

Daryan walked over to Mirajane, smirking slightly. "Hello, beautiful, what can I do for you today?"

"We didn't come here for you to be rejected again, Daryan!" Alex shouted as she hopped up.

"Can you really blame him for trying, though?" Gildarts said with a slight laugh. "I see a little of myself in you, Daryan."

"Don't encourage him!" Cana shouted, finally sobering up, though she didn't have too much of an idea on what was going on.

"Tell, me Gildarts!" Daryan said as he looked towards the crash mage. "What's the secret?!"

"Wellllllllll!" Gildarts started, but Cana walked over to him, and dragged him away.

"He doesn't need to know anything!" Cana shouted.

Outside the building, it looked as though Flynn was standing alone, but it turned out, Rylo was standing right outside the door, camouflaged with his surroundings to make him appear invisible. "It's amazing how they didn't see us..." Flynn whispered as he scouted the surrounding area. "Hear anything...?"

"Just a bunch of chatter..." Rylo replied. "They're too loud, I can't make anything out."

"I don't think we're gonna find anything out on this mission..." Flynn sighed slightly, beginning to jog in place from sitting still for too long.

"Flynn, you're jogging again..." Rylo said in hushed whisper.

"Wha?" Flynn looked down at his feet, his eyes widening. "I can't help it...!"

"Ugh..." Rylo sighed slightly, starting to pull back from the door...until it opened, smacking the invisible Rylo in the face, sending him stumbling back into Flynn, who stumbled back far enough to he swept away by a crowd of people in the town.

"...Did I hit something?" Daryan blinked a few times, shrugging after, leaving the guild with Alex. "So that was useless..."

"Oh, on the contrary..." Alex said with a lowered, yet calm voice, her hair shifting to white once again.

"Eh...?" Daryan turned, nearly jumping at the sight of Alex before letting out a sigh. "You really need to stop popping in like that...!"

"Stop being such a whiner..." Alex sighed, using her index fingers to rub her temples.

"Where do you even come from?!" Daryan asked.

"Alex, of course," Alex replied, skipping as though she hasn't a care in the world.

"Gaia's getting real sick of you showing up..." Daryan replied as she shoved his hands into his pant pockets.

"Like I care what Gaia thinks, that belongs to the red head, I only have one thing in mind..." Alex replied with a smile.

"And that is...?" Daryan asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, like I'd tell you that. Just let me do my thing, kay?" Alex asked...actually, it was more of a demand, but Daryan simply nodded.

.

.

"Tak, you looked fucked up, what happened to you?" Luke asked as Takeru (with bandages around 80% of his body) walked inside the guild.

"Oh, Salamander and I fought some guy named Tobias, kicked his ass though," Takeru said with a smirk.

"Hm?" Sidney took interest to Takeru's statement, raising a brow simultaneously. "You and Salamander fought someone, and you came out looking like that?"

"You should see the other guy!" Takeru laughed slightly at his joke before the serious expression appeared over his face again. "But, seriously, he was pretty strong. He almost had us, I won't deny that..."

"Tobias, huh..." Luke shivered somewhat at the memory, lifting his shirt up slightly to look at the scar on his stomach. "Man...this scar is just a constant reminder..."

There was a sudden knock at the door, and Luke, being the doorman, went over to answer it. To his surprise, a hooded female stood at the doorway. "Can we...help you...?"

"Is this White Eclipse...?" The woman asked quietly.

"That's right..." Luke nodded.

The woman nodded, then removed her hood, revealing herself to be Ultear. "I apologize for my actions..."

"U-Ultear?!" Luke nearly jumped back from surprise.

"Ultear?" Takeru immediately jumped to the door alongside Luke. "You here for another beating or something?"

"Takeru, relax," Sidney said calmly. "She's not here to cause harm."

"I wanted to apologize to...Reve...and anyone else who ended up fighting against Grimoire Heart...Cygnus...that was his name, right?" Ultear asked, looking towards Luke and Takeru with a solemn expression.

"They aren't here right now...but a lot of people did fight Grimoire Heart from this guild..." Luke replied.

"I...I have something...I don't think it will make up for it..." Ultear continued, revealing her time arc.

"What is it?" Takeru asked, keeping his suspicions of the woman before him.

"Second Origin..."

.

.

Inside the Cosmic Star guild, Gaia led Melanie, and Evanee inside, scowling slightly because during the train ride, Melanie vomited water all over Gaia due to never experiencing motion sickness before. "Welcome!" Gaia said with a half smile.

"This place is empty..." Evanee said as she looked around.

"I told you it was..." Gaia scoffed.

"This place is dirty..." Melanie said as she looked around, activating her water body as it started to fill the main room. "I'll clean it for you!"

"W-What?! No! What are you doing?!" Gaia shouted with her eyes widened.

"Being a good guest, obviously," Evanee replied while checking out the design of the interior. "Hm...seems a bit...drab..."

"D-drab?" Gaia's eye twitched slightly. "I picked out the design myself..."

"You obviously picked the wrong one," Evanee replied while taking note of Gaia's reaction.

"Magnus said it was good!" Gaia flailed her arms.

"He obviously lied to you." Evanee said, holding back a snicker as she did so. Having enough of the insults, Gaia grabbed a random stone, and began to chew on it, which left Evanee gawking.

Gaia looked at Evanee with a raised eyebrow, continuing to chew on the stone. "What are you looking at?"

"How are you...?" Evanee started.

"How am I what?" Gaia threw the stone behind her, now waiting to see what Evanee was going to say, but the stone dragon slayer instead started to sniff Gaia. "Uhm...What on earth are you doing...?" Gaia raised an eyebrow, taking a step back, but Evanee only took a step forward, deeply confused.

"Stalagmus...why do you smell like him?!" Evanee said while glaring at Gaia, who merely shrugged.

"Who knows?" Gaia replied.

"You know, you're pretty scummy, Guy..." Evanee growled slightly, but Gaia paid no attention to it.

"Aw, you're cute when you're mad Ev. But, I've got nothing to hide, you know?" Gaia smiled, yet spoke in her usual condescending tone.

"Now, Now...everyone should just calm down..." Magnus said as he walked down the stairs. "Starting a fight wouldn't be wise..."

"Magnus," Gaia merely shrugged.

"Come on, Melanie, we're leaving." Evanee grabbed Melanie's arm, and walked out the guild.

"She's a handful..." Gaia sighed.

"It's a wonder, hm?" Magnus merely leaned against the railing.

Gaia merely shook her head. "I'll see if she can figure it out for herself. It's not every day you meet an Earth Dragon...but she can't even figure that out..."


	41. Chapter 41

"GILDARTS, FIGHT ME!" Cynthia shouted as she bursted through the guild doors, her red flames flaring brilliantly as she looked around the guild for the mighty ace, her determined expression fading slowly when she didn't see him. "Where's Gildarts?!"

"He left this morning," Natsu said with a frustrated huff. "I was looking forward to fighting him too!"

"He did leave a note, however," Mirajane said as she waved a letter around for all to see.

"Oh? What's it say?" Cynthia asked, plopping down on a seat as she eyed the letter in Mirajane's hands.

"I was waiting for more people to be around before I read it, so let's see." Mirajane opened the letter, clearing her throat as the guild members started to crowd around the bar. "Dear Fairy Tail: It was nice to stick around for those two weeks, but now, I've decided that it's time I hit the road again. I heard the Grand Magic Games are coming up soon, and I know you all will be able to obtain first place just as last time! I'm rooting for you, and my baby girl! I'll see you all in the future. Oh, and tell the two fire dragon slayers I'll gladly take them both on at the same time when I get back." Mirajane nodded, closing the letter after.

"At the same time?!" Natsu and Cynthia said in unison, their eyes widened in a comical fashion.

"Well, lucky you..." Gray crossed his arms. "

"After I beat Gildarts, I'll become the next S class!" Cynthia said with a confident grin, but her statement only caused the fellow fire dragon to bump foreheads with her.

"You mean, /I/ will beat Gildarts, and I'LL be the next S class!" Natsu replied, smirking confidently.

"You wanna go, lizard boy?!" Cynthia shouted, her own smirk forming on her face.

"Lizard boy...?" Romeo blinked a few times.

"Where did she pick that one up?" Lucy tilted her head slowly.

"That's what Alex called Natsu-san and Gajee-san," Wendy replied with her cheeks puffed out somewhat irritatedly.

"Wendy, are you okay?" Carla asked rather curiously, looking towards the small dragon slayer.

"I'm fine!" Wendy replied with her usual smile.

"Juvia thinks Wendy-San is slightly jealous of Alex," Juvia said with a teasing giggle.

"Not jealous!" Wendy replied while flailing her arms around.

"Juvia understands!" Juvia said with a nod. "Juvia feels that way when Gray-sama is with another woman who Juvia doesn't trust! A love rival!"

"Juvia I think you're starting to take this in the wrong direction..." Lucy said with a sweat drop, but Juvia immediately cut her eyes to the spirit mage, as she still considered Lucy a "love rival". "Okay, never mind, continue."

.

.

"Luke?" Heather poked the copy mage a few times, placing a hand on her hip after. "You've been in here since last night, and I don't see any injuries on you."

"Yeah, Tak," Selene said to the shadow dragon slayer with furrowed brows. "I don't see anything, especially since Aira fixed you up."

"Second Origin...hurts..." Luke replied with a groan.

"Second Origin?" Selene blinked a few times.

"Apparently we all had a second magic container within our bodies," Luke explained. "And, Ultear showed up the other day to apologize, but since no one was really around, she choose to give Tak and I second origin, and I have to say...that shit HURT!"

"Did she at least warn you?" Heather asked as she crossed her arms, her voice somewhat lowering as she showed a somewhat softer, concerned side for Luke.

"Yeah, she warned us..." Takeru replied with a nod. "No warning could've prepared me or Luke for what happened, though."

"I do feel stronger, however," Luke nodded.

"Same here..." Takeru replied.

"What?!" Cygnus overheard the conversation as he passed the infirmary, and couldn't help but jump in. "Ultear came back?!"

"Oh, yeah, she wanted to apologize to you and Reve, but you two weren't around," Luke explained with a nod as he rolled his shoulders.

"And you two got Second Origin because of it?!" Cygnus said as his jaw dropped.

"Should've been here..." Luke said with a simple shrug.

"Now she's owes me another apology..." Cygnus groaned slightly, rubbing his temples in annoyance.

"I'm sure she's around here...somewhere...probably not..." Luke said, starting off with hopefulness, but as he continued speaking, he realized the likelihood of his theory was extremely low.

"The stars say she's not too far if you look for her!" Saeko chimed in as she passed the infirmary, not even bothering to look inside, though the astrology mage tripped over the carpet and fell to her face. "Uwah!"

"K-Kawaii..." Kuro said from the other side of the room. Kuro then grabbed a passing by Zalen and pointed to the floor.

"Gah, what is it, Kuro?!" Zalen asked as the fire make mage pulled him.

"Zalen, fix the floor, we can't have Saeko tripping over it all the time!" Kuro said in his usual tone, though there was a slight hint of demand in it.

.

.

"So, what are we going to do about Arc and Taya?" Ruika asked as she leaned back against a support beam. "Arc is dead, but that's not going to be a problem. As for Taya...if we don't need her, I'll gladly mount the traitor's head on my wall."

"We're going to wait to bring Arc back," Daityas started as he paced around. "As for Taya, it doesn't seem like she'll be coming back willingly, and if that's the case, I'll gladly kill her, and bring her back if I have to. In the end, it doesn't matter."

"Arcy is coming home?!" Sora asked as she gasped, her innocent looking blue eyes widening in surprise and happiness.

"That's right, Sora. Arc is coming home," Daityas said with a sly grin.

"Who the fuck is Arc?" Zancrow asked, looking around Immediately for answers, but Maggie instantly turned her arm into a lava whip and slapped the shit out of Zancrow, leaving a noticeable burn mark on the god slayer's face.

"Zancrow, love, remember what we talked about? If you're going to stay here, you're going to speak when spoken to." Maggie said in a sweet tone, yet the sarcasm and condescending attitude were clearly relevant in her voice.

"I gotta say, I love not being the only one who's picked on around here," Tobias said with a sigh, but Ur immediately shut the mage up by pushing him to the ground, and placed her shoe on his head.

"Shut up, Tobias," Ur groaned slightly before turning to the other members. "Who is Arc?"

"His full name is Arcturus, and he is the Darkness Demon Slayer." Daityas explained to the clueless ice wizard.

"A dragon, a demon, and a demon slayer? Aren't we full of powerful beings..." Ur said with a slight smirk. "So, what's the deal? Why isn't someone like him living?"

"He went goody-two shoes on us," Kiora replied while she had Rustyrose serve her a drink.

"And because of that, the wanker gained emotions by hanging around those disgusting legal guild members..." Maggie said while making a repulsive face after she uttered the word feelings. "Simply disgusting..."

Upon hearing the story of Arc once again, Rustyrose couldn't help but chime in. "He made a mistake, and a Master Hades would say, a true mistake-"

Before Rustyrose could finish, Kiora casually brought her knee up, slamming it into Rustyrose's groin, which brought the other embodiment mage crumpling to the floor. "Shut up, Rustyrose."

"Until there is an opening, we will simply wait, and then...then thugs will get interesting..." Daityas said with a smirk, a sinister gleam in his demon eyes.

.

.

"Where's Aloy?" Correll asked as he looked around, unable to find the head captain.

"Aloy said he had some business to attend to..." Layanna replied. "I will just have to fill him in on what I saw the other day at another time..."

"Is that what this meeting is about?" Doranbolt asked while looking towards the angelic mage.

"That's right...Siegrain-sama, may I begin?" Layanna asked as she looked towards Siegrain.

"Yes, you may begin," Siegrain said with a nod.

"Thank you," Layanna said with an appreciative nod to Siegrain before turning to Corell, Odin, Doranbolt, and Lahar. "Not too long ago, I investigated a town that was frozen, and seemingly burned as well. While I was investigating, I came across a mage with a Lava body, and Ur Milkovich.

"Wait, back up a second, if you would," Odin said while raising a hand to politely stop Layanna. "Did you just say Ur Milkovich?"

"That is correct..." Layanna nodded.

"I'm sorry, but that can't be right...she's been dead for quite some time now." Odin said while crossing his arms.

"I am aware of this, Odin," Layanna replied, her expression never changing. "But, I know what I saw. She was alive, and she was part of the cause of the destruction of that town."

"Are you saying Ur Milkovich is alive and evil?" Lahar asked as he fixed his glasses.

"That is the case," Layanna nodded. "Aloy is aware of this, as he arrived while I did battle with her and the Lava mage, but I don't think he understands the full scale of what is happening."

"So, now we have to look out for Ur, huh?" Correll grunted somewhat, scratching his short blonde hair a little.

"What about the lava mage?" Odin asked. "Do you remember what she looked like?"

Layanna nodded, pulling out a small lacrima that displayed Maggie's image. "This was her."

"She looks familiar..." Correll said while rubbing his head, staring at the image of Maggie intently.

"Probably one of the girls who chased after for who knows how long..." Odin commented.

"If she's a dark guild member, I suppose we have no choice but to eradicate her and her guild," Siegrain nodded.

"What about Silent Scantum?" Lahar asked with a somewhat serious look at the thought projection. "They are the reason you are here, yes?"

"What about them?" Siegrain asked with a serious tone to match Lahar's. "Jikan is a fool if he honestly believes I'll do anything he asks of me just because he is the reason of my return. He thinks he can use justice as a tool to do whatever he wishes, but he is incorrect. Justice is a weapon, and it is a weapon I, along with all of you, shall use to destroy the darkness, and any wrong doers that reside within the country of Fiore."

"Excellent speech, Siegrain-Senpai!" Correll said with a large grin and a nod. "I knew a dark guild wouldn't be able to hold you down!"

"Now that, that is justice." Odin said with a firm nod, a smirk forming across his face.

"I will always do my best to uphold the laws of the land." Lahar said with a nod.

"I agree with Lahar, it is my duty as a member of the Magic Council to uphold the laws, no matter what may be the case." Doranbolt also nodded.

"I will stay here as long as I am able to, Siegrain-sama," Layanna said with a nod.

"Excellent," Siegrain smirked at the members' decoration, and then turned towards the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's someone I have to go pick up, but I will return momentarily." With a nod, Siegrain activated the Heavenly Body Spell, Meteor, causing a golden aura to appear around his body, and he flew off.

.

.

"Why is this guy even here?" Alexander asked as Daryan made himself comfortable on the Twilight Zone couch.

"Because I like this place," Daryan replied as he let out a content sigh.

"Wow...who would've guessed Cosmic Star was filled with these kinds if people...especially those who are persistent in staying when we clearly want them gone..." Evanee said with a slight sneer to Daryan, who merely gave a dismissive wave.

"Ah, you just need to lighten up," Daryan replied.

"No." Evanee replied shortly.

"Well, there's your problem..." Daryan sighed.

"His guild must not be anything special if he has to come over here and entertain himself..." Alexander replied.

"Of course it's nothing special," Daryan replied to Alexander. "We are new, after all. Just like you guys, after all."

"That's nice," Alexander replied while rolling his eyes, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"I can hear the sarcasm in your voice, boy..." Daryan replied with a slightly more serious tone.

"You won't swing doe," Evanee chimed in.

"Of course not; that would be rude of me." Daryan replied.

"It's pretty rude of you to just walk in here and not leave when we ask you to." Evanee said with a now slightly irritated tone.

"The door was open when I came over; I thought that was the invitation!" Daryan nodded.

"It wasn't, now leave." Evanee said with her growing irritation.

"Go on a date with me first." Daryan instantly replied.

Evanee was holding back the urge to punch Daryan at this point. "Not even in your dreams."

"Then I'm good," Dayran replied as he lay on his back, obviously making himself at home.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself..." Rylo said with sigh and a shrug. "I really don't like this guild..." He thought to himself.

.

.

"I really wanna fight someone...!" Cynthia whined as she trudged around the guild.

"What about Natsu?" Max asked before taking the statement back. "No wait, how about me!"

Cynthia stared at Max awkwardly before coughing. "...What was your name again?"

"...Never mind..." Max sighed as blue lines comically appeared over the depressed sand mage's head.

"...Did I do something wrong?" Cynthia blinked a few times.

"Forgetting the name of a guild member is pretty bad..." Carla said with a slight cough.

"...We've never talked." Cynthia said while twiddling her thumbs. "I don't think I've talked to the background people who rarely say anything..."

"I think you should change that..." Carla said with a nod, crossing her arms.

"Yeah...I think I will right now!" Cynthia nodded, and then turned around. As soon as she did so, the doors to Fairy Tail opened, revealing the all-powerful wizard saint, Siegrain.

"Siegrain?!" Erza immediately recognized the wizard saint, and a slight scowl appeared over her features.

"Ah, Erza, it's been quite some time since I've seen you and your beauty." Siegrain said with a slight, sincere smile.

Erza found that a slight blush was appearing over her cheeks, but she quickly shook her head, the blush fading as she looked towards Siegrain with a serious, yet quizzical expression. "What do you want?"

"I've come for Cynthia Rose-" Siegrain started, but Natsu and Wendy immediately objected to the statement.

"She hasn't done anything!" Natsu shouted.

"Don't take her away!" Wendy pleaded, while Cynthia merely watched, her fist clenching slightly.

"Take her away? No, no, you have the wrong idea!" Siegrain said with a laugh. "I merely ask her to join me on a trip to the magic council so I can show her something. There is a sick girl I want her to talk to."

"Are you sure it's not a jail cell in the end, perhaps?" Erza asked as she raised a brow.

"How can we trust you of all people?" Gray asked. "You don't think we actually forgot about the Tower of Heaven, and how you deceived the entire council?"

"That was seven years ago, Gray," Siegrain replied. "You must learn to move forward. And, I've made my promise to detain the assassin that threatens the lives of the people within our country; and I intend to keep that promise no matter what the cost. I give you my word as the chairman of the Council, I will return Cynthia, unless she does anything that breaks the laws I strive to uphold. Is this fair?"

Wendy mumbled under her breath, still feeling quite uncomfortable with the idea. "I guess so..."

"Don't do anything crazy..." Cana sighed slightly.

"Don't worry, I'll behave, I promise!" Cynthia nodded, and walked towards Siegrain. "I'll go."

"Excellent," Siegrain nodded. "I'll have her back within the day. Now, let's go." With yet another nod, Siegrain and Cynthia walked out, and Siegrain used a magic car to transport him and the now motion sick Cynthia to Era.

On the roof of Fairy Tail, a white haired Alex watched as Siegrain and Cynthia rode off, grumbling to herself. "Geez, that girl is always on the move...how annoying to spy on..."

.

.

After finally deciding to leave Twilight Zone, Daryan called upon his exceed, Hiruka, and flew over to another guild he took a liking to; White Eclipse. After landing, Daryan touched on the ground, and knocked in the front door to see if anyone was home. "Hello?!" Upon hearing the door, Luke opened it, and Daryan rudely pushed his way inside along with his exceed. "Hello, ladies!"

"Rude much?!" Luke nearly shouted as he glanced at Daryan.

"The cretin is back /again/?" Heather groaned in annoyance.

"Hello my beloved toxic flower!" Daryan said with a sly grin.

"No." Heather merely replied, turning her head and body away from Daryan.

Daryan pretended Heather's coldness struck his heart, placing a hand over it to add a more dramatic effect. "Ouch; so cold on the outside...but I bet you have a warm heart on the inside, beautiful!"

"You need to not!" Luke shouted immediately, blinking a few times after.

Ignoring Luke, and all of the males in White Eclipse, Daryan continued his scope of the White Eclipse Females. "Hello my gorgeous wind chime..." Daryan smirked to Aira, but before he could say anymore, Selene pushed Aira off.

"We don't associate with your kind," Selene said rather rudely as she pushed Aira off.

"What do you mean my kind?!" Daryan asked. "Ah, forget it, you'll come around, diamond beauty."

"No she won't," Takeru sneered somewhat at Daryan, but it was Ineffective as the other dragon slayer merely ignored him.

"Hello, astral beauty~" Daryan winked as he approached Saeko, much to Kuro's discomfort.

"Hi!" Saeko replied with a cheery smile.

"So, the stars told me you and I should go out tonight~" Daryan said with a sly grin.

"Sorry!" Kuro chimed in, stepping between Daryan and Saeko with a bowl of noodles magically in hand. "Saeko and I were going out for noodles tonight!"

"That's right!" Saeko nodded. "Maybe another time...?"

"What's all the commotion...?" Syke asked as she trudged out of her room.

"Oh, hello!" Daryan started, but before he could get too far, or even take a step for that matter, Reve fired a bullet at the wall in front of Daryan; a warning shot.

"Don't push it," Reve said with a slight scowl. "You're already almost the the line."

"Can I eat him?" Adam asked curiously. "I haven't had lunch yet."

"This guy is a raging hormone..." Jack sighed while taking a sip from his mug of beer. "You said you're an S class?"

"Hold on," Daryan held a hand out, basically saying he was going to answer Jack's question in a few seconds. "I swear there were more females when I last visited..."

"I asked you a question..." Jack said in a somewhat irritated tone.

"Yeah, I'm an S class!" Daryan nodded, and proceeded to look around again, eventually spotting an unlucky Kairi who happened to step out of her room at the wrong time, and before she could hurry back, Daryan was already there, hearts in his eyes. "Hello, my angel~."

"Poor Kairi..." Heather sighed somewhat before smiling slightly. "Way to take one for the team!"

Kairi's expression paled as she realized Daryan wasn't going for any of the other females in the guild. "I'm not taking anything for the team what are you talking about?!"

"Have fun!" Aira waved.

Kairi looked towards the females with a "èné" kind of look. "Great..."

"Wait!" Daryan turned away from Kairi. "Where are your S classes?! I didn't get to fight last time I was here."

"Fight? You? You don't seem worth it..." Reve scoffed.

"I tied with Laxus Dreyar, gun boy!" Daryan replied rather boastfully. "He just got a few lucky hits, which led to the tie."

"And I almost beat, but ended up tying with Titania, and I beat Ultear Milkovich, so again, you don't seem worth the trouble." Reve replied while waving a dismissive hand.

"GAH...how dare you!" Daryan scowled. "Fine, where's your other S class?"

"Sleeping." Cygnus replied. "You won't catch Taya awake unless you're lucky."

"She's always sleeping nowadays," Zalen shrugged.

"You people are just..." Daryan sighed, the turned to Kairi. "Oh...I just got an idea..."

"The answer is no!" Kairi replied.

"I was just gonna ask if you would like a fight!" Daryan said. "Yeesh, you seem to be the only female who actually has a backbone."

"I would fight you, but I'm not getting anywhere near you, cretin, so have fun, Kairi, kick his butt!" Heather nodded firmly.

"I'm being forced into this aren't I?" Kairi said with her eyes narrowing towards the other female.

"Kick his butt!" Aira said while jumping up and down.

"And how about we make a bet? If I win, you, or another female, must go on a date with me. And if I lose, I won't flirt with any female in this guild ever again." Daryan nodded.

"Yeah, now you really don't have a choice," Reve nodded. "I'd take him, but it's hard to take someone like him seriously at all. Have fun, Kairi, we'll be watching."

"No pressure, guys, thanks..." Kairi rolled her eyes, feeling immense regret at her timing of leaving her room. "Outside, then..." With another sigh, Kairi and Daryan went outside into the snow, the present members heading out to watch the fight between the supposed S class and their angelic mage.

"This outta be good..." Jack said in a somewhat sarcastic tone. "I bet he won't get too far after he takes a good look of her..."

"Exactly why I can't take him seriously..." Reve replied.

"Ladies first~" Daryan said with a gentlemanly bow.

"But...it's the White Eclipse tradition to-" Kairi started, but she realized that there wasn't much point in reasoning with Daryan, so Kairi made the first move. Instead of actually performing a takeover spell, Kairi decided to use her air magic, holding both of her palms forward as she channeled magic into her palms, releasing air bullets towards Daryan.

"Hm..." Daryan's carefree nature vanished as a somewhat serious expression now etched onto his features. He couldn't see the air bullets, but he felt him once they made contact with his chest, pushing him back across the snow a few inches. "Air magic, eh?"

"Kick the weirdo's butt, Nee-chan!" Skye shouted cheerfully.

"Get yourself that date, Daryan!" Hiruka shouted.

Kairi, ignoring Daryan's question, sent multiple void blast towards the dragon slayer, all of with exploded simultaneously around him. "Zetsu!"

"Keh!" Daryan smirked, jumping into the air, avoiding the explosions with relative ease. Daryan then shifted his weight, speeding down to the ground as he went for an ace kick aimed for Kairi's head.

"He's fast, I'll give him that..." Jack said while watching Daryan's movements.

"Kairi's got this though," Heather said with a confident tone, following it up with a nod just as confident.

"He's quick..." Kairi thought to herself as she jumped to the side, just avoiding Daryan's axe kick as it hit the ground, and to her surprise, it caused a small crater on impact. Was Daryan not joking about his power? Only time would tell for the angelic mage and all her guild mates watching. Kairi jumped forward, using the time Daryan spent to get up after missing, and aimed a sharp kick towards his temple.

"Oh!" Daryan quickly brought his arm up, blocking Kairi's kick with ease, and he then brought back his free hand, his knuckles sharpening somewhat, and brought it to Kairi's cheek, a quick squeak of pain escaping Kairi's lips as Daryan's sharpened knuckles punctured her skin, causing some blood to appear as she stumbled back. "You almost had me there!"

Cygnus squinted after the hit, raising an eyebrow after. "Is she...already bleeding?"

"What was that...?" Kairi thought to herself as she placed a hand on her cheek before shaking it off, turning back to Daryan. "Hm..." Deciding not to use her takeover just yet, Kairi jumped forward once again, now aiming a skillful combination of punches at Daryan's midsection and face.

"I'm just getting started, beautiful," Daryan smirked as he slid into a defensive stance as Kairi charged. By using both of his arms Daryan was able to block everything Kairi threw at him, which annoyed the angel mage greatly that it seemed like he wasn't even trying. "Come on, you can do better than that I hope!" Daryan shouted, his tones cocky one, as he tried to coax Kairi into using her takeover. To further increase this point, Daryan grabbed one of Kairi's punches just before it stuck his face, then bent her hand back slightly before swinging his leg at her side, sending her tumbling across the snow before coming to a stop on her side.

"Come on, stop messing around, Kairi!" Cygnus shouted.

"She's just warming up, that's all!" Skye nodded.

"Daryan hasn't even started warming up!" Hiruka said proudly.

"Quiet you flying furball..." Luke scoffed.

A magic circle then appeared above Kairi as she now decided to use one of her angel takeovers. Kairi's attire completely changed into a silver one-piece suit with a sweetheart neckline, adorned with a gold frill. Her footwear changed into thigh high boots, also decorated with a gold trim, along with matching wrist-length gloves. Angel-like wings sprouted form Kairi's back, jutting upwards, and the rest of her body stayed same; Kairi was now in her Angel Soul: Uriel. "I was just warming up."

"Oh HELLO…" Daryan's eyes grew hearts in them, and Jack rolled his eyes at the predictable response.

"I knew it…he's not gonna last now…" Jack merely shrugged.

With her enhanced speed from her takeover, Kairi pulled her arm back with her fist clenched, and threw it towards the seemingly distracted Daryan, but to her surprise, Daryan snapped out of the little trance he was in and caught her fist, sliding back a few inches on the snow with a large smirk. "Sorry, babe, but just because you look like that, doesn't mean this is going to be any easier for you." Daryan pulled his free hand back as the bones in his knuckles sharpened yet again, but Kairi retaliated by pulling her own fist back, and clashed with Daryan's. The only problem with this was that Daryan's sharpened bones left puncture marks on Kairi's hand, and she only noticed this after they jumped back to create a gap.

"What is this guy's magic…?" Kairi thought to herself as she held her palms out, unleashing a concentrated beam of light towards Daryan.

"Curious, eh? Your facial expression says it all," With a quick nod, Daryan crossed his arms, the bones in his arms thickening as he took the Light Beam Kairi fired, the damage cut as he used his bones as a suppressor for the damage. "Might as well tell you all now! Might as well call me king of the undead! Daryan Skeletalus, the Skeletal Dragon Slayer!" Daryan grinned as the bones in his arms turned to normal, and he started move his upper body from side to side in a rhythmic motion. "Arise!" Three magic circles appeared on the ground, subsequently releasing three skeletons with swords and shield rose from the ground.

"Skeletal what…?" Luke blinked a few times.

"Dragon slayer, dip wit!" Hiruka shouted with a smirk.

"I'm not getting into an argument with a CAT," Luke sneered.

Kairi was admittedly surprised at Daryan's abilities, but she kept her focus on the three skeleton warriors now charging at her. Kairi cupped her hands at her sides, a sphere of light forming in the empty space, which she then fired as a beam towards the warriors. Too Kairi's surprise, the warriors actually had some sense of intelligence, as they brought their shields up to block the Cosmic Beam, but the power was too much for them to take, and they shattered into nothing. "This is starting to get annoying…"

"I'm just getting started, you know!" Daryan rushed forward, a bone several feet long in his hand, swinging it down at Kairi with intense speed, much to Kairi's surprise, as she narrowly avoided it. The swing caused a large crater to appear in the ground, but Daryan continued his assault, throwing the bone at Kairi this time like boomerang, but she managed to avoid it, and the bone flew off into the distance. "…Again?" Before Daryan could make another move, Kairi formed a golden magic circle in front of her, which released meteors of light onto Daryan, which struck the dragon slayer directly, causing him to slide back across the snow, moderately damaged by the attack. Kairi continued her assault by flying towards Daryan, landing a swift kick to his side, jumping back after. "Gah…!"

"Told you there was nothing to worry about!" Heather nodded once again.

"Hm…" Jack continued to watch Daryan carefully, noticing something about the dragon slayer.

"Wait…" Reve squinted, using his amazing eyes to see something coming from in the distance.

"Kairi, look out!" Skye shouted.

"Huh?" Kairi turned around, noticing that the bone from before was coming back quicker than Daryan threw it, but before she could actually dodge it, Daryan came from behind with a knee to her back, causing her to bend back, completely stunned. The bone then slammed into Kairi's body, sending her stumbling back a few steps; Daryan finished the combo by grabbing the bone, pivoting on his right foot this time around and slammed the bone into Kairi's side, the force sending her rolling across the snow, noticeably injured.

"Kairi!" Skye gasped.

"What the hell was that…?" Luke asked with a somewhat surprised tone.

"Just as I thought…" Jack said loud enough so the others could hear. "He doesn't act it outside of battle, but it's obvious his skill in battle is amazing…"

Kairi stood up slowly, taking somewhat heavy breaths as she felt the damaging starting to catch up to her already. "Ouch…" Kairi shook her head after, placing her hands out as she fired off another light beam towards Daryan.

"Now, watch this, and watch closely!" Daryan said with a smirk, twirling the long bone in front of him, effectively rendering Kairi's light beam useless.

"He deflected it…?" Aira asked in somewhat amazement.

"Now!" Daryan grinned as she puffed his cheeks out, his stomach inflating as a result. "Roar!"

"If this is what I think it is Kairi better get her ass in gear and move…" Jack's eyes narrowed.

"Of the Skeletal Dragon!" Daryan threw his head forward, a small tan magic circle appearing in front of him, unleashing a tornado of small bones that engulfed Kairi. When the attack cleared, Kairi was seen in a defensive position.

"She blocked it!" Skye said with a sigh of relief.

"No…" Jack shook his head slowly. "That's not an attack that can be blocked like that…"

"What are you talking about, Jack?" Aira asked curiously. "She looks fine!"

"Yeah, she looks fine alright!" Daryan said with a wink before realizing what it was the members were talking about. "Oh, yeah, that!"

"I-I can't move…." Kairi growled out.

"WHAT?!" The members side from Reve and Jack shouted in unison.

"I know the human body like the back of my head," Daryan said with a nod as he gripped the bone in his hands tighter. "And that attack is meant to paralyze the body, not damage. Now then, time for the finishing act!" Daryan dashed forward, holding the bone above his head.

"Daryan!" Gaia shouted, rushing up to the battle field.

"What!?" Daryan stopped just before he hit Kairi, looking over at Gaia with a confused look. "I was just about to get myself a date, what's going on here?"

"Where's Alex?" Gaia asked as she looked around.

Daryan pulled back, rubbing the back of his head as the bone vanished. "I thought she was with you…"

"…I thought she was with you…" Gaia said as her eyes widened.

"…I hate that white haired snot…" Daryan groaned before rushing down the mountain along with Gaia, while the White Eclipse members just remained slightly.

.

.

After what seemed like forever to Cynthia, she and Siegrain finally made it to the Magic Council, and instead of taking Cynthia through the normal front door, he took her to a basement, which confused the young girl. "Follow me."

"I am...I am..." Cynthia nodded as she followed behind Siegrain, feeling nervous about being alone with a council man who could possibly arrest her, but she put her trust in the council chairman. Eventually, they reached a room, the room where Eve was, to he exact.

"I have someone I want you to meet, I think she can use a friend," Siegrain nodded and walked out the room, closing the door behind him.

"Uh...Hello..." Cynthia approached Eve slowly, well aware of the wires on the wall attached to her back, but this didn't stop the girl from giving a small smile.

Eve's head turned, and she looked towards Cynthia with a faint smile. "Hello, you must be Cynthia."

"Yup! Cynthia Vi- Er...I mean, Cynthia Rose!" Cynthia nodded rapidly, feeling a sweatdrop coming on from her slip up.

"You don't have to hide your identity, I know who you are. My scanners picked it up, but I won't tell. I promise." Eve merely replied.

Cynthia let out a gasps, her eyes widening somewhat. "H-How did you...?!"

"My scanners never lie," Eve replied.

"Amazing..." Cynthia stared in wonder before shaking her head slightly. "So...I heard you're sick?"

"Sick...?" Eve blinked twice before looking at the large wire from the machine on the wall that connected onto her back. "Well...I'm usually attached to this large wire if that's what you mean..."

Cynthia glanced at the wire, shivering noticeably from the thought of how it felt. "Siegrain-San you are sick...and that you don't get out much..."

Eve looked down with what seemed like a Sweden expression, but it was clearly emotionless. "I have no reason to get out much; I'm merely a tool to him."

Cynthia blinked, almost feeling an instant connect with the girl in front of her. "T-Tool..."

Eve nodded. "I am merely a killing machine Master Siegrain uses when he sees fit."

"But that's not right!" Cynthia replied. "You're a human being, not some tool to be used!"

"I am not a human; I am a cyborg." Eve replied in a monotonous tone.

"That explains the wire..." Cynthia mumbled to herself before focusing back on Eve. "Still! You have emotions! That's what makes a person a person!"

"Most of my emotions have been cut out..." Eve gave a slight nod.

"B-But...how is that possible...?" Cynthia asked with widened eyes.

"Well, since in a cyborg it's quite easy. And since most of my mind is made up of 85% cyborg technology, it's quite easy." Eve explained.

"But...you're just a fourteen year old...I can't imagine myself without emotions..." Cynthia's voice gained a sense of empathy.

"It's not as bad as you think." Eve merely replied once again.

"Can't you feel happiness...?" Cynthia asked as she looked towards the cyborg. "That's the most important emotion to me..."

Eve stared blankly at the other girl. "I was given the power to smile...but what is happiness?"

"Happiness is the best emotion ever! It gives you this great, warm feeling inside you!" Cynthia said as a smile appeared on her face.

"Warm feeling?" Eve tilted her head as she started to listen. "Like when the wires overheat...?"

"No!" Cynthia shook her head. "It's this feeling I always get when I'm around Wendy, Alex, or Fairy Tail!" Cynthia nodded, but as soon as she said Fairy Tail, Eve's eyes turning a blazing red.

"Fairy Tail..."

"U-Uh...Eve..?" Cynthia took a cautious step back, and her action brought Eve to her senses.

Elsewhere in the magic council, since Cynthia and Eve were in the basement, the white haired Alex had to find another way around into the basement so she wouldn't cause too much of a scene. She had to play stealthily, so she wouldn't be caught by any guards. As she continued into the lower levels of the council, she found herself entering restricted areas, which included the high levels security prisons. "Father Aiden is down here..." Alex said with a somewhat surprised look. She then donned a suit which concealed her face, and continued on her way. Upon seeing the door that probably held Aiden inside, Alex turned her hand into a hammer fist, and slammed the door, which immediately set off the alarms within the entire building. "Ah piss…" Alex groaned.

"What's that noise…?" Cynthia asked as the alarms blared.

"There is an intruder…" Eve said monotonously as she pulled herself from the wire. "I will take care of this…" Eve nodded, and then proceeded to walk up the stairs.

"W-Wait…!" Cynthia followed behind Eve. "It could be dangerous!"

Eve ignored Cynthia as they eventually made it to a big open hallway, where Alex was still trying to bring down the door. "Intruder…"

"Eh…?" Alex turned, noticing Cynthia and Eve. "Oh…there she is…"

"Exterminate the intruder…" Eve said in a somewhat robotic tone as blades formed on her arms.

"W-Whoa…" Cynthia stared in somewhat amazement, but at the same time she felt back because Eve wasn't as human as she would've liked her to be.

"What's this…?" Alex merely shrugged, and then rushed forward, changing her arms into claws, jumping forward at Eve while slashing repeatedly with them. Eve matched Alex with simple blade slashes, though Eve did have to put effort into parrying Alex's claw slashes, and eventually ended the stalemate by throwing a kick to Alex's stomach, sending the now white-haired mage back a few steps.

"I'll help!" Cynthia nodded as she jumped up, forming two dark red spheres of red fire in her hands, and merged the two over her head, creating a large sphere of red fire. "Dazzling Blaze of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia then hurled the sphere towards Alex.

"Tch…useless attempt, little girl…" Alex said as she brought an arm back, morphing it into a hammer fist, which she used to harmlessly backhand the Blaze into the wall, creating an explosion, but Alex was unharmed, and Cynthia was left gawking at the sight.

"They deflected it with no trouble!?" Cynthia gasped.

"This is no ordinary human…" Eve stated as she and Cynthia stared down Alex.


	42. Chapter 42: Competition

"He's something else…" Aira said as she placed her hands over Kair's body, using her healing magic to heal the angel mage, who was now in her normal form.

"His exceed is annoying…" Luke scoffed.

"I need to get stronger…" Kairi mumbled as she winced, feeling Aira's healing starting to do its work.

"You are okay though, right?" Heather asked with a bit of concern.

"I'm fine…" Kairi nodded.

"You'll get him next time, no doubt!" Aira said with an affirmative nod.

"You all better start training, actually," Reve said as he walked into the main room with a newspaper article.

"Eh?" Luke blinked a few times. "What'cha got there, Reve?"

"Read it, and find out, Cloud…heh…" Reve then tossed the paper to the copycat mage, who caught it.

Luke then started to read from paper, a smirk slowly coming across his face as he read. "Grand Magic Games starting soon! No doubt all guilds in Fiore will come to the X792 Grand Magic Games in attempt to see which guild is truly number one in Fiore! With the knowing rivalry between Fairy Tail and White Eclipse, we're bound to see some interesting matches! More details to come…"

"Grand Magic Games, eh?" Jack grinned slightly. "Heh, I'm glad I'm around to witness it this time!"

"It's coming pretty soon, but I recommend we start planning things out, no?" Zalen asked as he fixed his glasses.

"First thing in the morning, I want to see you all training." Reve demanded.

"You can count on that!" Luke grinned. "It's about time we get to show EVERYONE that White Eclipse is number one!"

"I'm with ya there!" Cygnus grinned, nodding.

"You all know the saying!" Kuro said as he walked in from his room, only coming out because he heard White Eclipse hyping themselves up. "It's White Eclipse…"

"Or second place!" The members shouted in unison, throwing their fingers in the air in the shape of a W.

.

.

"Why aren't my attacks connecting!?" Cynthia growled in agitation as all of her fire based attacks were deflected by the masked Alex.

"You cannot defeat me like that…" Alex replied while shaking her head, her sadistic smile hidden by the mask that covered her face. Alex turned her attention in the incoming Eve, and shifted her entire arm into a deadly blade, parrying Eve's slashes with relative ease, jumping back to gain some distance.

Cynthia couched down, red fire trailing behind her arms. "Wing Slash of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia then lunged forward, landing a hit on Alex as the red fire slashed her, sending her sliding back.

"You hit me…!?" Alex gasped, the idea of Cynthia being able to hit her, let along her hurt, seeming foreign to her.

"You're not invincible!" Cynthia replied as a smirk appeared on her lips.

"Neither are you…but…" Alex looked to Eve, then to Cynthia, and sighed slightly to herself, seeing this battle a difficult one. "I suppose I'll just have to return at a later time, then…" Alex turned around, then sprinted off, leaving the two girls standing there in bewilderment.

"What…what just happened…?" Cynthia blinked a few times.

"I do not know, but I do know that the intruder is gone, and that there is little point in pursuing, as there was no damage done to anything within the Council building." Eve nodded, and then started to walk off.

"W-Wait…you're going back down there?" Cynthia sighed.

"I must." Eve nodded before walking back down the basement.

"I…Okay…" Cynthia frowned and started her trek home. "…I have to take a train, don't I…"

Outside the magic council HQ, within Era, Alex took her mask off, growling slightly. "She's actually gotten stronger…that will make carrying out father Aiden's wish a little more difficult than I intended…" Alex then started walking throughout the area, planning out her next move until the other members of Cosmic Star appeared.

"Alex!" Gaia growled slightly, realizing it was the white-haired one instead of the usual red head.

"Oh, hi, Gaia," Alex mumbled as she gave a wave.

"What are you doing here?" Yakuza asked while chewing on a piece of ice.

"I don't really have to explain myself to any of you, do I? Something here caught my interest, and I decided to check it out," Alex replied.

"You see why I hate this one?" Daryan groaned.

Gaia reached over, flicking Alex's forehead, causing the white hair to vanish and replace with the red hair. "Enough of that."

The red hair Alex looked around tiredly, yawning. "Morning…Where are we…?"

.

.

"You did what?" Jellal asked with widened eyes as he glanced over at Ultear.

"I had to apologize to that guild somehow," Ultear replied.

"You're lucky they were generous…" Jellal sighed. "Anyway, we need to think on what we are going to do next."

"Tartaros and Silent Sanctum are the real issues here, right?" Meredy asked as she brought her knees to her chest.

"There hasn't been much Tartaros activity latey…" Jellal brought hand to his chin as he began to think about it. "When you think about it, I'm not quite sure it's a good thing, either…"

"Silent Sanctum has gone pretty dark as well…" Ultear crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the ground.

"They have Siegrain under their control; I bet they're just waiting for a chance to strike…" Jellal replied, grunting slightly.

"So what do we do?" Meredy pouted slightly, unable to come up with any ideas.

"It wouldn't be a good idea to snoop around either of those two guilds…the three of us wouldn't be able to handle it; not after what happened to Meredy and I…" Jellal let out a sigh.

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens then…" Ultear nodded.

.

.

Heather and Cygnus were now facing off, not in a fight, but a different kind of battle. The two wanted to see whose poison was the strongest, though Luke and a few others already predicted the outcome. Heather filled a cup with poison, and then slid it over to Cyg, narrowing her eyes at the demi-god. "Drink up."

"You think I won't?" Cygnus smirked slightly, grabbing the cup off the table and chugged it down within seconds, placing the cup back on the table. Though he was practically unaffected, the demi-god found himself stifling a cough, because the poison was a little spicier than he thought it would be. "That all? My turn." Cygnus then filled a cup with black poison, and slid it over to Heather, who took one whiff, and started to fan the scent away from her.

"Ugh…what kind of poison is this…?" Heather said with a disgusted face at the smell.

"You don't have to drink it if you don't want to. Just remember the bet," Cygnus said with a smug grin.

"Tch," Heather grabbed the cup, and drank all of the godly poison, placing it down after. "Boom."

Cygnus stared wide eyed; completely in shock that Heather was able to down his poison. "I…"

Heather coughed, but she held a victorious smirk nonetheless. "No subs for a week! Boom!"

.

.

Inside Tartaros castle, the members of Silent Sanctum, minus Aloysius, met with Daityas and his members, along with the two Grimoire Heart members residing in the castle, mainly as slaves for the most part, Rustyrose and Zancrow. "Impressive palace you have here, Daityas," Jikan said with an approving nod.

"Ah, Master Jikan, I'm glad to see you could make it," Daityas grinned slightly. "And your members as well."

"Of course, I wouldn't be one to miss this," Jikan nodded, looking towards the members of Tartaros after. "Oh…I see Ur Mlikovich is alive and well…Quite funny, seeing as how Ultear Mlikovich is also doing quite well, I must say."

"Ultear?" Ur looked towards Jikan with interest. "And how is she doing?"

"Oh, she's fine, quite youthful; though I'm afraid she's aligned herself with the wrong crowd…" Jikan replied. "It's only a matter of time, however. But, I don't believe you called us down here to talk about Ultear, of course."

"That would be correct; the real matter at hand is this," Daityas started as he began to walk across the room. "Since Grimoire Heart is out of the game, Silent Sanctum and Tartaros are the two most powerful dark guilds in Fiore, and beyond. I am well aware of the temporary alliance your guild had with some of my members several months ago, which is why I am here to request a formal alliance between our two guilds, so when the time comes, we will be a near unstoppable force, of course."

"I would be a fool to dent this preposition." Jikan merely replied.

"An alliance with Tartaros again? Sweet!" Byron grinned.

"Yay, more playmates for Sora!" Sora exclaimed excitedly and threw her arms up into the air happily.

"Excellent. Feel free to acquaint yourselves with the other members, and I'll let you know when we make our first move."

.

.

"That was crazy…" Cynthia groaned as she pushed the front doors open to Fairy Tail, only lasting about three seconds before she was tackle hugged to the ground by Wendy. "Wah! Wendy!"

"You're back!" Wendy said with a happy grin. "Nothing bad happened to you while you were over there, right?"

"Well…I met some girl named Eve, and she and I fought some intruder!" Cynthia nodded. "Other than that, nothing happened!"

"So, Siegrain kept his word then?" Erza asked rather curiously as Wendy and Cynthia stood up.

"Mhm! He did, I was kinda surprised, but it doesn't seem like the Council is after me anymore!" Cynthia nodded, a huge grin plastered on her face.

"That's great!" Lucy clapped her hands together rather excitedly.

Makarov cleared his throat, a grin appearing on his face as he held up a newspaper article. "Now that we have that wonder news out of the way, I'd like everyone to take a look at this!"

"What's it say?" Natsu asked as he rushed over to Makarov, eying the newspaper. After scanning the paper for about three seconds, only three words caught the Salamander's attention as a large grin appeared on his face. "GRAND MAGIC GAMES!"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about it!" Wendy grinned.

"Heh, another chance to show everyone that Fairy Tail is number one!" Gray smirked, but he was already down to his black boxers before he even started speaking.

"Giehe, I've been waiting quite a while for this…" Gajeel said with a smirk as he placed a fist into his palm. "It's about time we finally showed those White Eclipse chumps who's in charge here, ne?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Gajeel!" Natsu grinned.

Just then, the door to Fairy Tail opened, and who be it but White Eclipse to stroll in like they owned the place, well, that was more Reve, but regardless. "Well, well…getting hyped up are we?" Reve said as he smirked at all the Fairies in the guild.

"Second Family!" Cynthia said with a larger grin.

"YOU NEARLY KILLED US ALL WE DON'T LOVE YOU." Reve shouted.

"YES YOU DO!" Cynthia replied.

"…Anyway…" Reve coughed. "Don't bother trying, White Eclipse is gonna take that number one spot, you know."

"That's what you think!" Lucy shouted, a smirk appearing over her lips as the blonde spoke with confidence. "We kept our number one spot against you once, and we'll do it again too! Against all the guilds!"

"What she said!" Macao said in agreement.

"Heh, that's cute…you think things won't change after over half a year…" Reve rolled his sleeves up, his classic disrespectful habit.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Reve," Luke said with a grin. "If they want us to embarrass them, let them."

"That's the spirit, Luke," Reve chuckled.

"You two really think you're hot shit, eh?" Laxus asked as he raised a brow. "Just because you tied with Erza, and managed to gain a victory over me?"

"When you put it like that, you're really making us sound better than basically every other guild," Reve replied. "But don't worry, Laxus, I'll get you too, since you seem to be so upset about it."

"You'll have to beat me first!" Natsu replied.

"Oh, I can do that again if you'd like?" Cygnus said as a confident smirk appeared on his lips.

"You wanna go, Cygnus!?" Natsu shouted as his fist engulfed in flames.

"I would, but there's someone else who has a score to settle with ya, right, Tak?" Cygnus asked as Takeru appeared from Cygnus' shadow, his arms crossed as he looked towards the Salamander.

"You beat me once, we tied, and now, in our next fight, it will be nothing but a victory for me, and White Eclipse," Takeru nodded.

"I'll take you on right now, Takeru!" Natsu's angry disposition turned into a smirk; he loved the thought of going against Takeru once again, and he already promised to himself that he would defeat the Shadow Dragon Slayer again.

"Not yet, at the Grand Magic Games, Salamander," Takeru grinned smugly, knowing Natsu was impatient, and that the wait would kill him.

"Ara ara…" Mirajane sighed. "You honestly think Fairy Tail will lose? I find that kind of cute…but I suppose that everyone has to have the wildest of dreams sometimes…"

"Heh, well said, Mirajane," Freed nodded in agreement.

"Couldn't have said it any better myself, baby," Bickslow chuckled as he let his signature laugh.

"A Man will not lose to someone such as White Eclipse!" Elfman nodded, holding his arm up in a manly fashion.

"I'm more a man than you, because I beat you, remember?" Cygnus's smugness rose to an all-time high and this only angered the beast takeover mage.

"A Man will fix his mistakes, understand!?" Elfman growled at Cygnus.

"Easy there, Mr. Man," Luke said while waving a hand. "We're not here to cause trouble, we're just here to tell you how things are going to pan out in a few weeks, got it?"

"Oh, and Titania…" Reve smirked as he pointed his hands towards Erza in the shape of a gun.

"Reve…" Erza cut her eyes towards the gun requip mage, glaring towards him.

"Things won't go like they did in our fight; I'll have six shots ready, and they'll all be for you….bang…" Reve "clicked" the trigger on his handgun, smirking.

"Besides, you all know the slogan," Takeru nodded. "It's White Eclipse…"

"Or second place!" The mages shouted confident grins, after words, the White Eclipse members left Fairy Tail.

"I forgot how much I hated those guys…" Gray scowled slightly.

"Heh, that's good, Gray," Natsu said as he stepped onto a table, flames covering his body. "It seems like White Eclipse has forgotten what Fairy Tail can do! You know what it's time for right!?"

"Aim for the number one guild in Fiore once again!" Makarov said with a large grin! "Show those brats how we do things!"

"Exactly!" The flames on Natsu's body flared intensely as he grinned. "I'm all fired up!"

.

.

"Are they all gone?" Tobias asked as he, Ruika, Kiora, Maggie, Ur, and Daiyas stood near the White Eclipse guild.

"Yes, they all went to brag to Fairy Tail…" Ruika nodded.

"Excellent…" With a slight grin, Daityas led the way to the guild, but he didn't go inside. He went to the side, where a grave was sitting, labeled: "Arcturus".

"This is it? They buried him in the snow?" Ur asked, the cold of the mountain causing her to strip unknowingly.

"Ur…clothes…." Kiora grunted.

"…Meh," Ur merely shrugged and Daiyas began digging in the grave. Actually, he wasn't digging, he was just using his hellish flames to melt the snow, eventually coming across a jar of sand.

"Here he is…" Daityas said with a large grin as he pulled the jar out of the snow, and kicked some new snow to cover the digging sight. "Arc, it's been a while, but, welcome home…"


	43. Chapter 43: Grand Magic Games Prep

With the Grand Magic Games only a week away, all the guilds in Fiore decided to up their game, which resulted in training the hardest they could. Just outside Fairy Tail, Natsu and Gajeel were sparring with each other. Natsu aimed a flaming right hook towards Gajeel's cheek, but since Gajeel knew how Natsu fought, he was easily able to block the incoming hit by coating his arm in iron scales, and brought it up to his face, blocking the hit, but he did slide back a bit. "C'mon, Salamander, you can do better than that!" Gajeel shouted, knowing that Natsu would comply by trying even harder to strike Black Steel.

"I'm just warming up, Gajeel!" Natsu shouted with a smirk. The salamander then jumped up, coating his legs in flames, and aimed a spinning roundhouse at Gajeel's skull.

"So am I!" Gajeel grinned, turning his arm into an iron pole as he held it up defensively, allowing his metallic arm to take the hit. Though, Gajeel did wince slightly from Natsu's power, and slid back across the ground. "Now it's my turn!" Gajeel turned his arm to normal, but with iron scales coating it; he then lunged towards Natsu while pulling his iron fist back, swinging it when he got close. "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"

"Heh…!" Natsu coated his fist in flames, charging Gajeel as well. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu threw his arm forward, clashing with Gajeel's hard fist, the power between the two causing a shockwave that thundered throughout the area.

.

.

The members of White Eclipse stood around Reve as they awaited the two teams that they figured would be participating in the Grand Magic Games. "Alright, is everyone here?" Reve asked as he looked around. "Looks like it."

"We have quite a bit of members here," Calium said with a slight chuckle. "I'm sure whoever Reve picks will do an excellent job in representing White Eclipse."

"I know there wasn't any pressure meant in that statement but I can still feel it…" Luke mumbled.

After seeing everyone was around, Reve nodded, and started explaining what was going to happen. "Alright, so here's the deal. We're going to form two teams, A team and B team."

"So there will be ten of us participating?" Waiston asked.

"That's right, Waiston," Reve nodded. "And for that occasion, I already decided the ten main participates."

"Oh? So who's going to be in, cowboy?" Taya asked while crossing her arms.

"Simple," Reve started. "White Eclipse Team A: Me, Luke, Tak, Aira, and Cygnus."

"M-Me?!" Aira's eyes widened, completely surprised that she was chosen.

"If you don't feel it I can always put someone else in your place?" Reve asked.

"N-No! I'll do my best to represent White Eclipse!" Aira said with a nod, unable to contain her excitement as she threw her arms around Selene.

"G-Gah! Congrats, Aira!" Selene said as she actually returned the hug.

"So, who's on team B?" Zalen asked.

"White Eclipse Team B: Taya, the leader, Nami, Jaxon, Waiston, and Kuro."

"I'm the leader, eh?" Taya merely shrugged. "Alright; I won't let any of you down."

"Taya, we're on the same team! Isn't that exciting!?" Nami hopped up and down excitedly.

"Whoa, I'm actually on a team?" Jaxon asked, clearly surprised.

"With you, we have the weather at our control; something that will no doubt come in handy, right?" Reve asked Jaxon, who nodded with a grin.

"This is exciting," Kairi said with a slight grin.

"Don't mess up, copy kitty," Heather said while giving Luke a light punch on the arm.

"Don't worry, we got this!" Luke grinned.

"The only problems will reside in the preliminaries," Sidney said with a warning tone. "It'll be a free for all."

"After that, everything else will be a breeze…" Reve nodded. "Now, we know the teams, and we have only one week left. Just because you aren't in a team doesn't mean you shouldn't train; we don't know what could happen to a member, understand?"

"Aye!" Kuro nodded.

.

.

"I have a present for you all!" Caelestis said as he walked into Twilight Zone with a piece of paper.

"Caelestis!" Evanee said, rather happy to see the guild master after who knows how long.

"I can see everyone is in one piece! You didn't kill them?" Caelestis asked in a proud, yet shocked tone.

"It was hard but I managed," Evanee replied.

"What'cha got there, old man?" Rylo asked.

"I'm not old!" Caelestis replied. "I'm….."

"See, you don't even remember!" Rylo replied. "You're old!"

"I'm technically the around the same age as Ev!" Caelestis nodded.

"Technically?" Flynn asked skeptically.

"Yes, technically." Caelestis nodded. "Anyway!"

"What's the piece of paper you have there?" Alexander asked rather curiously.

"This happens to be a paper which grants Twilight Zone entry into the Grand Magic Games!" Caelestis replied with a large grin.

"G-Grand Magic Games?!" Rylo's eyes widened. "Y-You're kidding!"

"What's that?" Melanie asked, obviously clueless about the subject.

"Basically," Rylo started. "The Grand Magic Games is a competition where all the guilds in Fiore compete to see which one is number one; but only eight guilds can actually get the chance to fight for that spot."

"And we have a shot at that…?" Tsami asked with an excited expression.

"That's right, and I already know who's going to compete!" Caelestis nodded. "Ev, you'll be leading the team."

"Me?" Evanee blinked a few times before nodding. "Alright."

"Rylo, Flynn, Taranis, and Alexander will also be on the team," Caelestis nodded.

"W-Whoa!? Me!? Great!" Flynn jumped into the air, grinning with excitement.

"Heh, this'll be great," Rylo smirked.

"I wanted to be a part of the team…" Tsami pouted.

"Don't worry, if something happens to one of them, we'll need to have a replacement." Caelestis nodded.

"Top hat squad," Taranis said with a grin as he nudged Rylo.

"Now, you only have a week for preparation, so get to it! Oh, and also! It's time for Fiore to enter the Twlight Zone!"

.

.

Master Goldmine of Quatro Cerberus walked around the guild, gaining the attention of his wild members. "So, the Grand Magic Games are starting soon!"

"It's gonna be wild!" Bacchus said with a grin.

"We're gonna become the top guild in Fiore this time!" Rocker shouted, hyping himself and the other members up.

"Master!" Blues shouted. "I know Kuro and I haven't been a part of this guild for long, but I think the Dragon God Duo can do some work for the guild this year!"

"Hm…" Goldmine thought about it, looking towards the other members to see what they would say.

"I think we should let 'em join!" Warcry nodded.

"It would be wild!" Yeager said as he nodded along with Warcry.

"I'm not hearing any objections…" Goldmine mumbled as he pondered the thought for a few seconds. "Alright, here's our team this year. Rocker, Warcry, Blues, Kuro, and Bacchus."

"Wild!" Kuro shouted as he and Blues high fived each other.

"FOUR!" The entire guild shouted in unison.

.

.

"Who is this…?" Arc asked as he leaned in towards Ur, unable to see because of the bandages around his face at all times, but he could tell someone was new.

"Ur…Ur Milkovich…" Ur replied as she leaned back from Arc, a puzzled expression on his face.

"You've missed a lot in your absence, Arc," Daityas said as he walked over to the demon slayer.

"Like what?" Arc asked, rather curiously.

"We've formed an alliance with Silent Sanctum, for example," Daityas replied. "As for the rest, you can see for yourself soon enough.

Upon seeing Arc once again, Sora ran forward towards the demon slayer and grinned. "Arcy!"

"Ah…Sora…" Arc picked the young girl up, and placed her on his shoulders.

"Sora missed Arcy!" Sora nodded, grinning with excitement.

Arc nodded to Sora, and then turned over to Daityas. "Where's Taya?"

"Oh, she's still with White Eclipse, but there are plans to change that soon enough," Daityas nodded. "But, I heard there is some competition going on soon, and I'm eager to see Kuro's results with training with me."

"I still can't believe you're teaching that wanker…" Maggie scoffed.

"Oh, don't worry, I have a plan. Because of his nativity, things will be made much easier," Daityas replied as a smirk forming on his lips.

.

.

"I can't believe this…" Daryan sighed as he strolled around the main hall of Cosmic Star.

"Neither can I…" Magnus grunted, crossing his arms as he leaned back against a support beam. "All the other guilds are about to participate in the Grand Magic Games, and the old man hasn't returned enough to even see if we can enter…"

"It would be great publicity if we were able to make it within the top eight…" Gaia shrugged. "But, without the old man to let us in, I doubt we'll be making it this time."

"Ah, phooey…" Alex pouted.

"I suppose it just wasn't mean to be then…" Yakzua shrugged. A few minutes later, the door to Cosmic Star creaked open, causing the five members to turn. An old man, hunched over and using a walking stick to walk slowly made his way inside the guild.

"Oh my…I can see you kids still don't get out much…" The old man said, chuckling slightly.

"No way he's actually here?!" Yakuza said with a shocked tone.

"Yeesh, when are you going to get that back of yours fixed, Karma?" Gaia asked while shaking her head with a subtle smile.

"Oh…Gaia, I can see you haven't changed a bit…" Karma said with a tired smile. "But…That's not what I returned just in time for. I have something for you all, for doing such a good job keeping this guild safe and all…"

"And what's that?" Magnus asked, though the question was rhetorical, but he felt as though that he had to play along.

Karma held up his arm, shakily as he was old, but Gaia took the paper so the old man wouldn't have to strain himself. "Thank you, Gaia…"

"Let's see…" Gaia read the paper, he eyes widening in surprise after she did. "You got us entry into the Grand Magic Games?!"

"Karma you're the best!" Alex hopped up, grinning widely.

"Well, well…looks like you managed to pull through in the end, old man…" Yakuza said with a slight smile.

"You whippersnappers have a week to prepare yourselves. I apologize I wasn't able to return sooner, but business does call, after all. But, with your talents, a week should be everything you need and more."

"Aye, sir," Magnus nodded.

.

.

Lyon stood at the doorway to Lamia Scale, and of course, he wasn't alone. Alongside the dynamic ice make mage was the team of Lamia Scale; Jura, Chelia, Yuka, and Toby. "I'm ready," Lyon said with a smirk.

"We still have a week to go, but I have faith in you all!" Sherry said cheerfully.

"We may have lost last year, but I know Lamia Scale will come out on top!" The Master of Lamia Scale, Ooba Babasama said while twirling her finger around, spinning a random, no name member.

"We're going to win this time. OOON!" Toby shouted.

"I admire your enthusiasm, Toby-dono," Jura said with a slight chuckle.

"I'm ready to win this time!" Chelia nodded.

"As am I," Yuka smirked slightly.

"We will show Fiore why Lamia Scale is the strongest guild in Fiore!" Lyon shouted.

.

.

"Sting, it's almost time," Rouge nodded to his fellow twin dragon, standing alongside Orga, Rufus, and Yukino.

Sting nodded, a smirk appearing on his lips as he looked at the members of Sabertooth. "I know, and I've been waiting for this day ever since we lost the title as strongest guild in Fiore. Sabertooth is a different guild now then it was back then, and I intend so show it!"

"Sabertooth! Number one!" Orga sang, his horrible singing causing everyone to flinch.

"We won't lose this time, right, Sting?" Yukino asked the white dragon slayer.

"That's right!" Sting grinned.

"Sting-kun will lead Sabertooth back to victory!" Lector shouted, rather confident and proud.

"Fro think so too!" Frosch said while giving what seemed to be a blank stare.

"Our victory will be one to remember…" Rufus smirked slightly, placing a hand on the tip of his hat.

.

.

"Men!" Ichiya had the Trimens, Jenny, and Nichiya lined up, all ready to participate in the Grand Magic Games. "We have but one more week to prepare for the Grand Magic Games!"

"We are ready, Ichiya-san!" The Trimens said in unison.

"I won't lose again, I refuse to," Jenny said while filing her nails. "I have a score to settle with Mirajane (who just happened to sneeze off screen due to her name being mentioned)."

"I am prepared to fight once again for the sake of this guild!" Nichiya nodded while giving a salute.

"Men! Excellent! I can smell a parfarm of victory!" Ichiya exclaimed.

.

.

"Grand Magic Games, huh…?" Melody sneezed, her cheeks red from sickness. "This blows! I wanna to participate…!" She then coughed a few times, groaning.

"Don't worry; you should be 100% by the time the Games start!" Milliana nodded.

"And if not, we'll make sure to fight extra hard for you," Beth said with a cheerful tone.

"We have a lot of things to watch out for now," Kagura said while crossing her arms, her head tilted down to the ground as she closed her eyes. "We're going to have to try harder than we did last year, since we have White Eclipse and who knows what else to deal with."

"Don't worry, Kagura!" Risley said while giving a thumbs up. "Mermaids will swim to the top!"

.

.

"Alright, everyone!" Makarov shouted, gaining the attention of the entire Fairy Tail guild. "It's time to list the two teams that will be representing Fairy Tail in the Grand Magic Games!"

"Oh boy, it's finally time, huh?" Cynthia bounced up and down a few times.

"I'm ready!" Natsu said, somewhat bruised and battered from his spar earlier in the day along with Gajeel.

"For Fairy Tail's A team, we have Erza Scarlet, Gray Fullbuster, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell, and of course, Natsu Dragneel!" Makarov nodded, seeing that his choice for the A team was a good one, considering the members were nodding in agreement. "No objections, great! For Fairy Tail Team B, we have Laxus Dreyar, Gajeel Redfox, Mirajane Strauss, Juvia Lockser, and Cynthia Rose!"

"M-M-Me!?" Cynthia's eyes lit up with excitement. "You're picking me!? I-I-I don't know what to say!"

"Heh, we got ourselves an all-star team this year!" Cana grinned.

"Juvia wanted to be on the same team as Gray-sama…" Juvia frowned.

"Well…you technically are on the same team?" Lisanna said with a comforting smile.

"IT'S NOT THE SAME!" Juvia flailed her arms comically, causing Lisanna to take a few causal steps back.

"This is going to be a breeze!" Cynthia nodded. "I can't wait!"

"We still have a week left, twerp," Gajeel replied to Cynthia. "Giehe, but I have to admit, I'm feeling rather excited myself."

"Let's go out and win this thing then!" Natsu roared.


	44. Chapter 44: Let The Games Begin

The city of Crocus boomed with excitement. Not just from the mages who were planning on participating in the Grand Magic Games, but the people who were excited to see the Grand Magic Games. Cynthia looked around in amazement, utterly surprised that a city could be so lively. "Whoa…I've never see a city so lively before! I love it!" Cynthia clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling in amazement. "Can we take a large tour, Wendy? Pleasssse!"

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Cynthia, but we have to get back to the hotel by midnight, remember?" Wendy said, looking around the city.

"Well…it's…only…" Cynthia looked around for the nearest clock, pointing to it once she found it. "It's 9! We have three hours to take a tour!"

"You're not winning this one, Wendy," Carla said with a slight snicker.

"Oh, alright, alright!" Wendy put her hands up in defeat after realizing Carla was right.

"YAY!" Cynthia grinned and then grabbed Wendy's arm, pulling off to take a tour of the large city.

.

"That ride was horrible…" Selene groaned while rubbing her stomach, still feeling slightly nauseous from the long train ride.

"At least it's over now!" Aira nodded, grinning cheerfully as she looked around. "Are you hungry? We still have time to grab a bite to eat!"

"I could go for some good food right now…" Selene nodded. "It's getting somewhat late though, are you sure you remember where the hotel is?"

"I remember!" Aira nodded as she gave a reassuring smile, dragging Selene off in the process.

.

"So many people here…" Evanee groaned somewhat as she took some time off to walk around the city. It was noisy in the hotel room, so she decided to take a walk to what she thought would be a quiet city, but she was wrong. "And it's noisy…"

"I find it kinda funny ya think a city like this would be quiet…" Bacchus said as he stumbled around somewhat, obviously quite drunk.

"Ugh…" Evanee waved her hand, attempting to wave the strong scent of alcohol away from her nose. "Who are you…and why do you smell of that disgusting aroma…?"

"Heh, name's Bacchus, drunken Falcon for the wildest guild in Fiore; Quatro Cerberus!" Bacchus said with a drunken, yet clearly proud grin. "As for the smell, heh, I was drinkin' as much as I could. Who might you be?"

"Evanee…" Evanee replied, her eyes narrowing at the drunk before her. "Don't tell me your guild is competing in the Games…"

"Of course we are! We made top six last year, and now, we intend on taking that number one spot!" Bacchus nodded, taking a sip from his gourd. "I couldn't drink too much though, don't wanna be a liability for my team if I passed out drunk."

"Right…" Evanee replied, clearly uninterested in the conversation, though Bacchus clearly didn't seem to notice. "Now…I'm going to go…elsewhere…" Evanee gave a slight nod and started to walk off.

"Oi, wait a sec!" Bacchus shouted after her.

Evanee sighed a sigh of irritation before turning her head to look over her shoulder. "What?"

"What guild are ya from?" Bacchus asked.

"Twilight Zone," Evanee replied before walking off.

"Heh, pretty wild name…" Bacchus grinned before walking off back to the hotel.

.

"Uwah!" Saeko stared out from the balcony of a room White Eclipse had in the hotel, looking down at the city below. "It's amazing!"

"It's a great view, no doubt!" Zalen said with a slight grin.

"You all seem comfy," Kairi said with a slight giggle.

"It's a great place, and I can't wait to start this thing," Reve said while lying on a bed. "Where is everyone, by the way? We're gonna need them in a few hours."

"Selene and Aira went out to eat somewhere, so I doubt they'll be gone for much longer," Nami nodded. "Everyone else is somewhere around, not too far from the hotel, I'm pretty sure!"

"As long as everyone is on time, I don't have a problem." Reve nodded.

.

"This city never ceases to amaze me…" Lucy said as she, Natsu, and Happy walked around the crowded city. The trio just came from eating at a restaurant, and were now on their way back to the hotel to wait for the preliminaries to start.

"It has sooo much fish!" Happy grinned, carrying a large fish in his paws, savoring every bite of it.

"I feel great!" Natsu threw a fist into the air, patting his stomach. "That meal was just enough to fire me up! I'm ready for this thing to start!"

"Excited, aren't we, Salamander?" Yakuza said as he happened to approach the three while walking in the opposite direction.

"Eh…you're…" Lucy started, trying to remember who Yakuza even was.

"Don't remember me…ouch…then again, what does it matter?" Yakuza merely shrugged. "Since you've forgotten, my name is Yakuza, and I am the ice god slayer of Cosmic Star, soon to be number one guild in Fiore."

"Heh, I dunno about that," Natsu said as a sudden smirk appeared on his face. "Fairy Tail may have competition this year, but we're going to win just like last year!"

"We'll see about that, Salamander," Yakuza said while a smirk started to tug at his lips. "Magnus and his strategies will take us to the top, no doubt."

"About him…" Lucy started, very curiously too. "How does he know EVERYTHING?"

"Everything? Oh, well, I suppose you could say that's his magic, but I'll let you in on a little hint; he doesn't know EVERYTHING per se…but he does know things within the day and on."

"That's really confusing…" Happy tilted his head while chewing on his fish.

"I agree…" Lucy sighed, looking over to Natsu to see if he got it, but he seemed about as lost as she and Happy.

"Those without brainpower aren't exactly going to get what I just said rather quickly…" Yakuza said with a simple shrug.

"H-Hey!" Lucy puffed her cheeks out in an irritated fashion.

"Too late," Yakuza shrugged, turned around, and started his way back to the hotel. "See you soon."

"Well that guy is annoying…" Lucy huffed, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Oi, come on, let's get back," Natsu nodded.

.

"This is a rather big city…" Ur said a she, Byron, Tobias, and Ruika stood on a roof, watching the people from above.

"Can I kill them?" Byron asked as he looked to the two ladies, but they both shook their heads.

"Calm yourself," Ruika merely replied; the celestial mage then looked down, spotting Lucy, Natsu, and Happy walking below them. "Lucy…"

"Hm?" Ur looked over to Ruika rather curiously, noticing the sudden change in attitude. "What's got you all upset all of a sudden?"

"Tch, I remember her…" Tobias replied, tugging on his scarf in a slightly irritated way.

"Nobody cares, Tobias," Ruika replied as her eyes locked on Lucy's key pouch. "I WILL have those keys…if I can't even have all of them, I will at least obtain Leo."

"He didn't seem all that when I fought her and him during that fiasco not too long ago," Tobias replied.

"He is a powerful spirit, but, he will be even more powerful once I get my hands on him…" Ruika's lips started to form into a sadistic smirk. "And then, I will watch Leo kill his former owner, and then her keys will be mine, and her head shall be mounted on my wall."

"This girl is crazier than I am…" Byron said while he took a few steps back, turning around to see if there was anything else he could look at, but he noticed Yukino and Sting taking a walk around the city on the other side of the building. "Oi…Who're those two?"

Tobias turned first, squinting at the two Sabertooth mages. "Huh…looks like we have Sting Eucliffe of Sabertooth along with Yukino Aguria…"

"Did you say Yukino?" Ruika turned instantly, looking down at Yukino with the same look she had with Lucy.

"And what's so special about this one?" Ur asked while crossing her arms.

"She has the two keys Lucy doesn't have…along with the 13th zodiac gate key…" Ruika replied.

"The…13th key…?" Byron blinked a few times, starting to count the keys by using his fingers, eventually thinking it to be impossible for there to be 13th gate key. "Nope…I just counted, it's impossible…"

"Idiot…" Ruika sighed slightly, but she found Byron a lot less annoying than Tobias, so she complied to tell him and Ur about it, completely ignoring Tobias in the process. "There have been rumors of the 13th key, which is a very powerful spirit…and Yukino is the one who possess it…And I want it."

"So what are we doing here? We could get those keys right now if you wanted…" Ur started.

"No, I want to see how this competition plays out first…" Ruika replied. "I have my bets on Fairy Tail."

"Psh, White Eclipse, obviously," Tobias said.

"Ohp, well, I was gonna go with that but knowing this guy he's gonna be wrong…" Byron said. "Hm, I'll go with Fairy Tail too."

"Fairy Tail." Ur nodded.

"Oh come on…" Tobias groaned.

.

Back at the hotel, more so in Cosmic Star's room, the members just all rounded themselves up, now looking at the clock. "It's 11:45," Gaia said with a nod. "Only fifteen more minutes…"

"You whippersnappers better get into the top eight…" Karma said, coughing slightly after. "I didn't return just to see you all fail…"

"Don't worry, we got it!" Alex nodded.

"I've already come up with a plan," Magnus said with a smirk. "And it begins with…" Before Magnus could continue, a large black ice structure appeared in the southern part of town.

"Something that will take a large amount of time to break down, or get around…"

.

"H-Hey! What's the big idea?!" Aira flailed her arms around as the black ice structure blocked her and Selene's way. "I need to get back to the hotel in fifteen minutes!"

"Don't worry, Aira, I can do this…!" Selene nodded, changing her arm into a diamond sword, and began hacking away at the godly ice, only making little progress.

"It's taking too long…!" Aira said, nervousness of not making it on time starting to get to her. "We have to go around!"

"That's going to take longer!" Selene protested.

"What do we do, what do we do!?" Aira started panic.

.

"Alright, we have fifteen minutes; Team A: Report," Reve said, looking around for his team.

"Here!" Luke nodded, raising his hand.

"Here," Takeru nodded.

"And here," Cygnus nodded.

After a few minutes of silence, Reve looked around. "Where's Aira?"

"I wouldn't expect her to be late…" Luke said while raising a brow.

"Maybe something happened…?" Cygnus suggested.

"Hey, look over there…!" Luke pointed to the black ice structure on the far end of the southern part of town. "That's where the restaurant Aira and Selene went to is…"

"You don't think…" Cygnus started.

"It seems as though something is holding them up…Not good…" Reve grit his teeth slightly before calling over to Taya, whose team was in the room next to Reve's. "Taya, we have a bit of an issue here!"

"What's the matter, cowboy?" Taya asked in reply.

"Aira's been held up." Reve explained.

"What? That's not like her," Taya replied.

"It's not," Reve nodded in agreement though Taya couldn't see it. "Someone's decided it would be okay to hold us up…We only have about ten minutes left now…"

"What's the plan?" Kuro asked.

"I can get her; it's night, after all, which is perfect maneuverability for me," Takeru nodded, standing on the railing of the balcony.

"Better hurry up," Reve replied.

"On it." With a nod, Takeru entered his Shadow Drive mode, and started to move through the shadows. "Selene's with her, but with a city this large I'm not surprised she isn't using Shadow Travel…"

.

"Everyone's here, right?" Makarov asked both Erza and Laxus, making sure both A and B teams were ready.

"Everyone's here aside form Wendy and Cynthia," Erza replied, looking over at the clock. "I know they're both safe, and I'm certain they're on their way to return here as we speak."

"They better be; a late start wouldn't be favorable…" Laxus grunted somewhat.

"Juvia thinks everything will be okay!" Juvia gave an assuring nod.

"Good luck, Mira-nee!" Lisanna said with a cute smile and wave.

"Thank you, Lisanna," Mirajane replied with her usual sweet smile.

.

.

"Come on, we're almost there!" Cynthia shouted as she and Wendy neared the hotel, but they were still a few minutes away.

"Ah, I lost track of time!" Wendy cried out.

"Don't worry, I'll tell everyone else you two are on the way!" Carla nodded, and then sprouted her wings, flying ahead to the hotel.

"We're gonna make it!" Cynthia shouted, but right after she shouted, a structure of black ice appeared, towering over the two young girls.

"W-WHAT!?" Wendy's eyes widened at the black ice structure.

.

"Oh, looks like this competition just got a little more interesting…" Maggie said with a snicker as she, Kiora, Veronica, and Horoki watched the black ice starting to slow the competition.

Horoki took a puff from his cigarette, and then blew out some smoke, grinning slightly. "I love it when people don't play fair…makes things more interesting…"

"This Cosmic Star guild is already spicing things up, I love it!" Veronica grinned, filing her nails.

"Cosmic Star'll probably win if they continue stuff like this; bet." Kiora nodded.

"Hm, that may be so…I think it's too early for bets, however, so I'll wait until things actually get started." Horoki nodded.

.

After a few more minutes, the image of Mato appeared in the center of the city, signaling it was time for the preliminaries to begin. "Hello-kabo!"

"Shit…!" Reve growled.

"Tak, hurry up…" Luke mumbled quietly.

"This isn't looking so good…" Gajeel growled slightly.

"It is time for the preliminaries of the Grand Magic Games-kabo!" The pumpkin headed host grinned, and the famous Sky Labyrinth appeared over the city of Crocus. "Only eight spots are open, meaning only eight guilds will get to compete-kabo! And remember, all five members of a team must cross the finish line in order for that guild to compete, now, go-kabo!" After the host spoke, a bridge appeared that connected the Sky Labyrinth to the balconies of the hotel appeared.

"Let's GOOO!" Flynn shouted, not wasting any time in moving forward...but before he could make it out of the room, black ice shot up, blocking the way out of the balcony, thus halting the Twilight Zone team as Flynn shot the ice face first.

"FLYNN!" The team shouted in unison.

"What's that about?!" Flynn asked while rubbing his head.

"Someone's playing dirty..." Alexander replied.

"This isn't good…" Reve, Erza and Evanee said in unison.


	45. Chapter 45: Sky Labyrinth Part 1

"I'M FREAKING OUT!" Cynthia shouted as she and Wendy desperately tried to shatter the structure of godly ice before them.

"D-Don't worry, we can make it out of this!" Wendy replied, actually Omega Flame Sky to hopefully destroy the ice with a few attacks. "We're not too far from the hotel! Just a little more!"

.

"Reve!" Kuro shouted as he, Taya, Nami, Jaxon, and Waiston started their trek on the path that led into the Sky Labyrinth. "We're going to go on ahead and buy you guys some time, alright?!"

"Tch, alright…" Reve nodded. "This is why we have B team…heh…"

"I hope Tak gets back soon…" Luke mumbled.

.

"Selene, Aira!" Takeru called out as he appeared behind the two girls from the shadows.

"Tak!" Aira and Selene said in unison. "It wasn't my fault!"

"Yeah, we know, don't worry," Takeru replied, holding his hands out to the two girls. "C'mon, we have some lost time to make up, so grab on!" The two girls nodded and grabbed Takeru's hands, and he used his Shadow Travel to return to the hotel.

.

"Gah! This ice isn't giving an inch!" Flynn shouted as he used his speed to kick the black ice in front of him repeatedly, also using some fire magic in hopes of melting the ice.

"Who did this!?" Rylo asked as he took off his top hat, holding it forward as a large funnel of fire blasted at the ice, yet there was no effect visible.

Alexander made a certain formation with his hands, creating a bubble-like formation around the ice, which he then used to heat up it up in attempt to melt it. "Ih Ragdo!"

"Nothing is working…I'm already starting off the games highly annoyed…" Evanee held back an agitated groan while thinking of something.

"I have an idea," Taranis exclaimed, causing his team members to turn and look at him. "This ice is indeed quite sturdy, but instead of focusing on the entire structure, focus on one part, and it should be enough to shatter it!"

"Ah, excellent idea!" Flynn nodded. "Me first!" Flynn took a deep breath, and then used his speed magic to aim a flurry of kicks on one particular spot, which caused a tiny crack to appear on the ice since it received earlier damage in that spot.

"My turn!" Rylo pointed his top hat at the crack, unleashing yet another blast of fire at the crack, while Alexander repeated the Ih Ragdo spell, which led to a large crack on the ice.

"And now!" Taranis opened his mouth, unleashing a breath of lightning at the crack. "Lightning Demon's Screech!" Once the lightning made contact with the ice, it shattered, revealing the path.

"We've wasted too much time already, let's go," Evanee nodded, and the Twilight Zone team made their way to the Sky Labyrinth.

.

Cynthia jumped into the air, flames blazing around her arms. "Crimson Slash of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia threw her arms forward, sending a powerful spinning blaze of fire towards the black ice, shattering it. "We did it!"

"Let's hurry!" Wendy shouted as she and Cynthia darted off to the hotel as fast as they could to make up for lost time.

.

Inside the Sky Labyrinth, things were heated already between White Eclipse B, Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus, Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel, Cosmic Star, and now Twilight Zone. Once Twilight Zone made their way inside, Lamia Scale was already in an ample position to attack Twilight Zone. "Ice Make: Dragonfly!" Lyon shouted as a cyan magic seal appeared in front of him, unleashing dragonflies that flew towards Twilight Zone.

"Look out!" Flynn shouted as the dragonflies came in.

Rylo, however, looked on with a smirk. "Heh, that's a nice trick you have there. I wish I could do the same, but too bad there's…nothing up my sleeve!" Rylo rolled his sleeves up, a clear magic circle appearing as the dragonflies flew into the circle, much to Lyon's surprise.

"What kind of magic is that!? OOOON!" Toby shouted.

"Heh, surprised, are we? Don't worry, that's my specialty!" Rylo grinned as the magic circle reappeared, shooting the Dragonflies back to Lamia Scale.

Jura preformed a hand sign, creating a wall of rock and iron in front of his team, allowing the Dragonflies to crash into them harmlessly. "Rockiron wall!"

"Let's go!" Rylo shouted as the team continued on their way.

White Eclipse B mad their way to an upside path, but they now had a clear shot to slow down Mermaid Heel. "Kuro, let's go!" Waiston shouted with a grin as his cheeks started to inflate, opening his mouth after to unleash a vortex of ice upon the females. "Ice Dragon's Roar!"

"Heh! Let's!" Kuro clapped his hands together; a red magic seal appeared as a fiery tornado shot out, merging with Waiston's Roar to form a unison raid.

"Huh?" Milliana's ears perked up at the sound of voices, urging her to turn around, only to see the incoming unison raid coming from White Eclipse B. "L-Look out!"

Kagura turned, scowling slightly as the unison raid closed in. "Risley," Kagura said in a calm voice, despite what was coming.

"I'm on it, Kagura!" Risley made use of her gravity change magic, which Kagura taught her, and changed the gravity of the incoming unison raid, sending it back around towards White Eclipse B.

"It's coming back…!" Nami shouted.

"Arana," Kagura said as she turned her head to the web mage.

"Web shot!" Arana held her hands out, unleashing webs that tangled White Eclipse B before they could even move.

"Shit…!" Taya quickly brought up three vectors to block the unison raid, though she found she couldn't move due to the webs.

"I got it," Jaxon said with a smirk as a magic circle appeared, creating miniature tornados that ripped the webs off White Eclipse B.

"They aren't messing around this year…" Nami shook any remaining webs off her as the B team kept their focus on Mermaid Heel for the time being.

.

"IT WASN'T OUR FAULT!" Cynthia shouted as she and Wendy finally made it to their respective teams.

"Ah, there you two are! We were starting to get worried that you two were hurt!" Mirajane let out a relieve sigh.

"Alright, A team and B team are here and ready, I think we've wasted enough time as is," Laxus said as he turned to the Sky Labyrinth.

"See on the other side, Wendy?" Cynthia said with a slight smirk.

"Mhm!" Wendy gave a nod, and Fairy Tail A and B finally made their way to the Sky Labyrinth.

.

Takeru appeared from the shadows, entering the room with Selene and Aira. "Found them."

"I-I'm sorry everyone…!" Aira almost shouted, hoping her members would forgive her.

"We know it wasn't your fault," Reve replied. "Don't worry about it, we can still make it."

"Let's go!" Luke shouted, leading the way as White Eclipse A finally made their way to the Sky Labyrinth.

"Good luck you guys! White Eclipse or second place!" Selene shouted as the team left.

.

Sabertooth was on a platform slightly below Cosmic Star, who seemed to be making the most progress out of everyone so far. "White Dragon's Holy Ray!" Sting unleashed multiple rays of light towards Cosmic Star.

"Oh, typical Sting…" Magnus said while shaking his head. "Alex, if you would?"

"Hai!" Alex nodded, jumping up front while her left arm morphed into a black shield, absorbing all the damage from Sting's holy ray while showing no signs of damage.

"W-What was that!?" Sting asked with a surprised look.

"Ice God's Bellow!" Yakuza opened his mouth, unleashing a powerful vortex of black ice towards Sabertooth. Upon seeing the bellow, Orga reared his head back preparing his Lightning God's Bellow.

"Nope!" Daryan smirked, quickly forming a several foot long bone in his hands, which he threw at Orga, not aiming for a direct hit, but it struck Orga's shoulder, throwing him off slightly, and the Ice God's bellow struck Sabertooth, creating a decently sized explosion.

"Heh, nice one, Daryan!" Gaia said with a grin.

The team of Quatro Cerberus ran up a flight of stairs, only turning when they saw Blue Pegasus on a floating platform a few yards across from them. The team of Blue Pegasus consisted Ichiya, Nichiya, Ren, Eve, and Jenny, meaning they left Hibiki behind as a potential reserve. "Oi, look what we got over there!" Bacchus said with a smirk.

"Men! It appears we have a confrontation!" Ichiya said as he struck a pose along with the exceed.

"I got this!" Blues said with a smirk, puffing his cheeks out. "Roar of the Water Dragon!" Blues opened his mouth, unleashing a vortex of dense water towards Blue Pegasus.

Eve placed his right arm forward, his hand open; he then placed his left hand on his forearm, prompting a small blizzard which quickly grew larger as it traveled, matching Blues' roar surprisingly well, and even to the point where the two attacks exploded. "White Fury!"

"Gah, snow magic!?" Blues asked with a somewhat surprised tone.

"Nice counter, Eve, men!" Ichiya said giving a nod of approval.

Nami held her palm out, firing off a beam of light towards Kagura, but the Mermaid easily managed to block such a hit by using her sheathed sword, but she did slide back slightly from the power. "She blocked it…!"

"We're never going to buy Reve's team any time like this…!" Jaxon shouted.

"You guys feelin' spiffy?" Milliana asked as a slow smirk appeared on her face.

"What's that supposed to mean…?" Taya asked as she kept her vectors at the ready.

"Nyah!" With a shout, Milliana held her hand forward, unleashing her magic sealing tubes towards White Eclipse B.

"W-What are those!?" Kuro asked with widened eyes.

"Bad news!" Waiston replied. The Ice dragon slayer then stomped his foot on the ground, creating a circular glacier around White Eclipse B, which successfully managed to deflect the tubes, forcing Milliana to react them.

"Drat, they avoided it…" Milliana growled slightly, but continued moving with her team.

Waiston let down the glaciers, and went in pursuit of Mermaid Heel along with the rest of his team, but their progress was halted by a door. "Ah, one of these…"

"We got no choice, might as well!" Jaxon said with a nod, and pushed the members through the door, which led them to a right side up floating platform.

"Great, where are we now…?!" Taya let out a groan of agitation from not being able to find the correct pathway.

"Hey, look!" Natsu pointed at the floating platform just in front of them; to Fairy Tail A's surprise, White Eclipse B had their backs turned.

"Sitting ducks!" Gray grinned as he placed his fist into his palm, an icy wing forming around him. "Natsu, let's go!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Natsu replied with a grin, puffing his cheeks out as he and Gray prepared a sneak attack on the unsuspecting White Eclipse B. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" Gray threw his arms forward as a blue magic seal appeared, unleashing enlarged ice lances just as Natsu unleashed a funnel of flames towards them.

"What's that noise…" Taya asked as she and the rest of the team turned around, her eyes widening at the sight of the incoming attacks. "F-Fuck…!"

"NO!" Nami screamed out, but before the attacks made contact, the ice lances diverted unwillingly into a different direction, and a suction noise filled the area as the Fire Dargon's Roar funneled off into a different direction.

"What the?!" Lucy's eyes widened as she watched where Natsu's roar was funneling off to; she then saw White Eclipse A, with confident statures.

Reve held his Reverse Slayer gun out, using the weapon to absorb Natsu's roar, a smirk plasted onto his features. "Heh, that's a strong roar you got there, Salamander!"

"You should really work on your aim, Gray!" Cygnus said with a smirk, revealing that he was the one who diverted Gray's lances away with gravity.

"Well, glad to see you could make it in time, Reve," Taya said with a sort of relieved smile.

"Told you we wouldn't be long! Now then!" Reve clicked the trigger on the Reverse Slayer, sending Natsu's roar back towards Fairy Tail A.

"Watch out!" Erza jumped forward, changing into Flame Empress Armor to take the brunt of the attack, wincing just slightly as the attack struck her.

"Erza-san, are you alright!?" Wendy asked with a worried tone.

"I'm fine, Wendy," Erza replied with a nod.

"You won't be for long!" Nami said with a grin as she threw her hands up, creating a magic circle above Fairy Tail A, which unleashed a rain of light down on the group.

"No!" Erza changed once again into her Adamantine Armor, raising it up as the rain crashed down onto the shield, cracking it slightly.

"You're open, Titania!" Takeru shouted as he fired off a Shadow Dragon's Roar at Erza's side, but it was quickly cut off by a Lightning Dragon's roar from the side, causing Takeru to turn his head, spotting Fairy Tail Team B far off into the distance.

"From all the way over there?!" Aira shouted in amazement.

"Tch, alright team, enough playing around!" Reve shouted and ushered Team A and Team B to get a move one, which they did.

"Thanks for the save, Laxus…" Erza said with a gentle smile.

"We shouldn't be wasting anymore time!" Laxus shouted.

"We really need to be getting a move on," Mirajane nodded.

"Right, don't worry, we're on the way!" Lucy shouted in response.

"How did we end up facing off against Sabertooth!?" Flynn asked as he narrowly avoiding a Shadow Dragon's Roar from Rogue.

"Doesn't matter," Evanee replied, responding to Rogue's Dragon Roar with her own, but Rogue seemingly vanished into thin air as the attack "hit" him. "Wait..what?"

"That was your memory of his location…" Rufus replied to Evanee's confusion with a smirk.

Rouge was now standing above Twilight Zone, shadows engulfing his fist as he jumped down, attempting to knock at least one member out while he threw his fist forward. "Shadow Dragon's Slash!"

"Not so…" Flynn smirked as a magic circle appeared under him, activating his speed magic. "Fast." Flynn then turned around, beating Rogue to the punch, or kick to be more accurate, kicking the Shadow Dragon slayer to the platform where Sabertooth was standing.

"Rogue, are you okay!?" Yukino asked with concern.

"I'm fine," Rouge replied, shaking off any remaining feeling from Flynn's kick. "He's faster than he looks…"

"MEN!" Ichiya shouted from a high platform, gaining everyone's attention.

"I highly recommend we don't look at what's about to happen…" Magnus whispered over to his other members.

Erza looked up, shuddering at the sight of Ichiya. "Oh god I really hope he doesn't make it into the main events…"

"Men, are you ready!?" Ichiya asked his exceed counterpart.

"Ready!" Nichiya nodded; he and Ichiya then struck a pose, putting the "handsomest" face they could both muster, exclaiming at the same time. "Double Handsome Attack!"

Right after the two Blue Pegasus mages preformed their "attack" everyone who was not a Blue Pegasus member stopped in their tracks, their eyes widening at the sight they were witnessing. "W-What the…" Cynthia's eye twitched a few times; though she was too young to really understand the purpose of the attack, she knew the instant it was performed she hated it.

"J-Juvia is feeling uneasy…" Juvia said while frowning heavily.

"That looks worse than when they first preformed it last year…" Gajeel grimaced.

"Don't tell me that actually put effort into something like that…" Laxus scowled at the sight.

Erza merely fainted at the sight of it, causing Fairy Tail A to panic as Natsu caught the mage in his arms, his eyes widening. "E-ERZA?!"

"S-She fainted!?" Lucy gasped.

"Oh…Look at that…" Magnus said while holding back a smirk, but he was unable to do so for much longer. "Titania's down."

"Alright, I'm growing sick of this, Tak, fill it up," Reve said while holding his Reverse Slayer to Tak, who complied and filled the dangerous gun with a Shadow Dragon's Roar. Since everyone was still distracted, Reve never had a clearer shot in his life as he released the Shadow Dragon's Roar Tak gave him, which resulted in an explosion once it struck the two posing mages.

"MEN!" Was the only thing Ichiya had to say after the attack made contact.

"Heh, what's the matter, Titania, can't handle a look?" Cygnus said with a smug grin.

"Wow…She actually passed out…" Aira blinked a few times.

"I'm not sure what's sadder, the fact she fainted from it or that…no, never mind, Erza fainting takes the cake…" Luke replied as Team A started moving move again.

"Erza, Erza, wake up!" Cynthia called out from across the Labyrinth, but her calls were in vain, as the scarlet haired mage did not awaken from her slumber.

"That's not good at all…" Gajeel growled slightly. "Those idiots managed to do something…"

"We have to keep moving, no matter what," Mirajane replied. "Erza will wake up soon enough, don't worry!"

"Juvia hopes Mira-san is right…" Juvia nodded, looking around at the other guilds competing after, a shriek of surprise escaping her lips as the unsuspecting water mage took the full force of an Ice God's bellow, the attack freezing her water body as she turned into solid ice, a shocked expression her face as she now fell from the platform she was standing on, unable to help herself get out.

"Nice shot, Yakuza!" Daryan said while giving a high five to the ice god slayer.

Fairy Tail B's eyes widened as Juvia fell from the platform, everything moving in slow motion for them in that moment. "JUVIA!"

.

.

"Looks as though things are going well so far…" Layanna said while examining the city from the streets. "I suppose I'll go back now…" She nodded to herself, and then happened to look up, catching a shadow of a person moving from rooftop to rooftop, two blades in their hands. "That's…" Layanna shook her head, immediately jumping into the air, giving chase after none other than the assassin, also known as Skye. "They're here, in Crocus…why…?"


	46. Chapter 46: Sky Labyrinth Part 2

"JUVIA!" The entirety of Fairy Tail B shouted as the now frozen Juvia fell off the platform and down into the open space.

"What the hell was that!?" Natsu shouted as he now had an unconscious Erza in his arms.

"Playing the game," Yakuza replied with a smirk.

"Playing dirty is more like it…" Mirajane sneered, and without wasting any more time, a magic circle appeared over her body as she entered her Satan Soul takeover, immediately sprouting her wings out and flew down to catch the frozen Juvia.

"Oh, no, no…We can't have you spoiling out fun…" Yakuza sighed, shaking his head in a disapproving manner before firing off multiple Ice God Bellows at Mirajane, attempting to impede her progress, and it worked to some degree, as the demon had to change her flight pattern to avoid being hit.

"OI! Knock it off!" Natsu screamed towards Yakuza, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"Natsu, we have to keep moving…" Gray reluctantly said. "They'll be fine!"

"Right…they can handle it…" Lucy nodded in agreement, and as much as Natsu wanted to pound Cosmic Star's faces in, he and his team kept moving.

"Alright, you've had your fun!" Gajeel puffed his cheeks out and threw his head forward, unleashing an Iron Dragon's Roar that clashed with an Ice God's Bellow, creating an explosion and smoke cloud, blocking Cosmic Star from sight.

"Nice one, Gajeel!" Cynthia said with a sigh of relief.

As White Eclipse B made their way up a long flight of stairs, Nami couldn't help but watch as Fairy Tail B and Cosmic Star faced off. "Those guys look dangerous…"

"We'll be fine, just keep moving, Nami," Taya ordered.

"Those guys really get on my nerves…" Flynn said he and Twilight Zone couldn't do much but continue their way by running on an upside down flight of stairs.

"I got her!" Mirajane let out a sigh as she grabbed the frozen Juvia, and began her way back to the platform her team was standing on.

"That could've turned out bad…" Laxus said in a somewhat relieved tone and expression, though both the tone and the expression vanished when a blast of black ice struck her wing, freezing it completely as she now spiraled out of control.

"Mirajane!" Cynthia's eyes widened and she turned around after, seeing Cosmic Star in the same place, smirks on Yakuza and Magnus' face.

"Oh, now THAT was a good shot," Daryan said with an approving nod.

"Now, I believe that's enough playing around; this way," Magnus nodded, and the team of Cosmic Star sped off.

"Shit, now what!?" Gajeel asked.

"Hold on, I got it!" Cynthia nodded as a determined look appeared on her face. She ran off the platform, swan diving off.

"Whoa, kid, what are you doing!?" Gajeel asked with a slightly surprised expression.

"Saving our members!" Cynthia replied as red fire trailed down her arms, and she flew past Mirajane, shattering the black ice around her wing, allowing the demon to take flight once more.

"Cynthia?" Mirajane asked as she turned around, waiting to see if the young dragon slayer would need her assistance in getting back, but Cynthia merely landed onto another platform, and shifted her momentum back to her feet, shooting off to the original platform where Team B was, and Mirajane landed.

"Not bad, kid," Laxus said with a nod.

"And!" Cynthia ignited her fist, slamming it into the ice that surrounded the frozen Juvia, shattering it.

Juvia shivered immensely, her cheeks red from being in the godly cold for so look. "J-J-Juvia is…sorry for holding her team up…"

"It wasn't your fault, Juvia," Gajeel replied as the team finally started to make some more progress once again. "Those space star bastards think their all that, but we'll show 'em."

.

"The games have already started…?" Ultear asked as she, Jellal, and Meredy discreetly made their way through the city of Crocus, keeping their identities a secret with hoods over their heads.

"Just look up," Jellal stated as he pointed to the Sky Labyrinth. "All the guilds are competing in there to see who'll be in the top eight, remember?"

"It's been a while," Ultear replied with a shrug.

"Hey…" Meredy tugged on Ultear's arm as she pointed to the rooftops, seeing two people hopping from rooftop to rooftop. "What's that about?"

"Huh?" Jellal looked up, squinting at the sight. He saw Layanna, and that's all he really needed to see because he knew what was coming next. "Hide!" Jellal whispered, grabbing the arms of both Ultear and Meredy and pulled them into an alleyway.

"J-Jellal, what's going on..!?" Ultear asked with widened eyes.

"That was a council member…" Jellal replied. "I don't know if there are more on the way after her, but I'd rather not take any chances…Not to mention…it looked like she was chasing someone…"

.

Saeko rubbed her eyes tiredly; she wanted to see if the results of who made in into the main event would be said after the eight teams managed to go through, but she was also fighting sleep. "It's late…But the stars say they're doing fine right now…" Saeko nodded to herself, and turned around, but she took on a confused look when she noticed a female member was missing. "Kairi…Heather…Selene…Where's Skye-chan…?"

.

Layanna continued her pursuit of Skye, but the assassin was well aware of her presence. Unfortunately for Layanna, Skye was GOING somewhere, not returning to someplace, so it made it a little difficult for the angelic mage to keep track of Syke's movements. Layanna did have her angelic sword out, but unfortunately, Skye was able to parry away any slashes Layanna managed to swing. Eventually, Skye, in her assassin state, wouldn't be able to carry out her assassination so she quickly pulled out a smoke bomb, and threw it down. "Ah…!" Layanna coughed as the smoke covered her body, jumping out of it to regain sight, however, Skye vanished. "She got away…"

.

"Water God's Bellow!" The water god slayer, Kuro, threw his head forward, unleashing thick beam of black water from his mouth directly at Lamia Scale.

"Not so fast!" Yuka stood up, holding his hands out as he created an anti-magic barrier with easily managed to hold off the Water God's Bellow.

Upon seeing this, Chelia jumped up, unleashing a funnel of black winds towards the Wild team. "Sky God's Bellow!"

"Oh, Sky God, eh? Don't mind if I do!" Reve shouted from above, using his Reverse Slayer to take in the Sky God's Bellow, which he immediately released back to Lamia Scale.

"Rock Iron Fist!" Jura preformed a hand sigh, which resulted in a large fist of rock and iron to shoot from the platform and slam into the Sky God's bellow, which resulted in an explosion.

"Heh, Wild," Bacchus smirked, but he got too comfortable with the fact White Eclipse A bought his team some time, and as a fire javelin hurtled towards him, the drunk only had a few seconds to dodge, which he managed to do by swaying his body to the side, watching as the javelin flew past him. "What the?!"

"For a drunk, he's got excellent reflexes…" Taya noted.

Blues slid his fist into his palm, throwing them forward as a dark blue magic seal appeared in front of him, unleashing dense, watery lances. "Water Make: Lance!"

"Look out!" Waiston stopped the ground, creating large glacier for defense, but it was futile as the lances shattered the glacier, and struck the members of White Eclipse B, sending them tumbling back through a door which led to who knows where.

"Nice shot, Blues!" Rocker shouted with a grin.

"Now, let's keep moving!" Yeagar nodded.

.

"How are we going to wake her up!?" Lucy asked as Fairy Tail A made their way across a rather straight platform.

"I dunno, but we're going to need to think of something fast! We need her!" Gray replied, but he immediately stopped, throwing his hands forward to create a large ice shield. "Ice Make: Shield!" Gray's timing couldn't have been any better, as a bone boomerang slammed into the shield, shattering it, but the bone returned to Daryan, who was standing on a platform along with his team, once it struck something.

"It's them…!" Wendy shouted.

"How's Titania doing, eh?" Gaia asked with a sarcastic tone.

"She'll be fine once she wakes up!" Natsu replied, puffing his cheeks out, and fired off a Fire Dragon's Roar towards Cosmic Star.

"Earth Roar…" Gaia took in a breath, then unleashing funnel of stones and other earthly debris, overpowering Natsu's roar with ease, and slammed into Fairy Tail A, causing them to skid back across the pathway.

"G-Gah…what was that?!" Natsu asked with some shock.

"Natsu-san…" Wendy started as she looked at the unconscious Erza. "I don't think we should take any risks as long as Erza-san isn't able to do anything…"

"She's right, Natsu…" Lucy nodded, reaching for her key pouch.

Magnus's smirk left his face, and he then sighed, looking over to Gaia. "Gaia…"

"I know," Gaia replied, shifting her body to the right, avoiding a Stone Dragon's Roar that came from behind her. Gaia then turned around, placing her hands on her hips with a subtle smirk. "Oh, Ev, how nice to see you again."

"How did she dodge that…!?" Evanee clenched her fist somewhat, gritting her teeth.

"They know each other…?" Lucy blinked a few times.

"I don't think that matters right about now!" Gray shouted. "Let's go!"

"Where do you think you're going?" Daryan shouted with a smirk, lowering one hand and brought it up, causing several tan magic circles to appear around Fairy Tail A. "Arise!" From the magic circles, four skeleton warriors with swords and shields surrounded Fairy Tail A. "I've been working on that, how do you like it!?"

"Nice, Daryan!" Alex said with a grin.

"I believe it's time to get a move on now," Yakuza said with a nod.

"In a second," Gaia said with a nod, staring down Evanee with a smirk on her face. "Hm, I wonder if that's all your dragon roar can really do…"

"Knock her down a peg, Evanee!" Rylo said while adjusting his top hat.

Evanee ignored Rylo, and everyone on her team for that matter, only so she could shut Gaia up. She puffed her cheeks out, and Gaia did the same, and they both unleashed their roars at the same time, the result ending with Gaia's roar overpowering Evanee's for a few seconds before Evanee entered her Stone Drive state for a few seconds, which led the two roars to explode powerfully, kicking up an immense gust of wind. "Tch!"

"Alright, I see where she stands now, let's go!" Gaia nodded, and Cosmic Star went off once again.

"Hm…" Taranis eyed Gaia somewhat before leading the team off.

"What are we going to do about these things?!" Lucy asked while panicking. Just then, a cosmic like blast of energy blew the skeletons away, and when Team A looked to see where the source of the blast came from, they saw Fairy Tail B above them. "Mira!"

"We're getting close to the end!" Cynthia shouted.

.

Sabertooth noticed the GOAL sign on a platform far away from them, but they knew that they were in the lead so far. Of course, on other platforms about the same distance away from the finish line were the other guilds, Cosmic Star, Twilight Zone, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus Lamia Scale, White Eclipse A and B, Quatro Cerberus, and leading the rear was Fairy Tail A and B. "We're gonna make it! First place, just like last time!" Sting exclaimed.

"I hate to rain on your parade, Sting!" Magnus shouted from southwest of Sting, causing the white Dragon slayer to look in that direction. "But I can already tell you the placements of this! And Sabertooth won't be first!"

"That's what you'd like to think, isn't it?" Sting replied with a smirk. "I'll get you this time, just watch!" Sting puffed his cheeks out, and in the next instant, he sent a White Dragon's Roar hurtling towards Cosmic Star.

"He just doesn't learn, does he?" Alex said with a slight sigh, but to her surprise, Daryan stepped up.

"I got this!" Daryan grinned as another several foot long bone appeared in his hands, and he twirled it around, successfully deflecting the White Dragon's Roar away, much to Sting's surprise.

"What the?!" Sting's eyes widened.

"Now it's my turn!" Dayran grinned, performing yet another "arise," which brought fourth multiple skeleton warriors from the ground in front of Sabertooth.

"W-What are those?!" Yukino asked as she came to a sudden stop.

"Nothing you need to worry yourselves over, just forget them…" With a smirk, the skeletons vanished as Rufus used his Memory Make Magic to make them do so.

"Oh, no way!?" Daryan gawked at the sight of his skeleton warriors vanishing.

"Pay it no heed!" Magnus replied.

"Special delivery for Cosmic Star!" Waiston shouted from above, the platform he and White Eclipse B running on upside down, but held the same pathway to the GOAL line. Waiston unleashed an Ice Dragon's roar down towards the team, but Yakuza merely grinned.

"Oh, that's cute…the ice lizard thinks that'll work…" Yakuza merely opened his mouth, eating Waiston's roar, which replenished the magic power he used up earlier. "Oh…nice and chilly…"

"What's with these guys?!" Waiston groaned.

"Keep your head up, Waiston!" Reve shouted from northwest. "We're almost there!"

"MEN!" Ichiya shouted, realizing how far ahead they were in comparison to the other guilds. "I think it's time we unleashed our secret weapon to ensure that we enter the games!"

"Already!?" Ren asked in sort of bewilderment.

"It's not like we'll get another chance to use it! And if we don't now, we might never get into the games!" Eve replied.

"So, it's my turn then? Jenny asked with a smirk growing onto her face.

"Take it away, Jenny, Men!" Ichiya nodded.

"Of course~!" Jenny nodded and her body was then bathed in bright light, catching everyone's attention. Since Blue Pegasus was now in the lead, this light caught everyone's attention, and when it died down, Jenny was in a bathing suit, in the most seductive pose possible, which grabbed the attention of every male within who looked at it. "Ta dah~! Blue Pegasus' Jenny Realight, at your service!"

"H-HOLY…!" Waiston's nose started to bleed immensely from the sight of Jenny. "This is the second time I've seen her like this! AMAZING!"

"Waiston, get your head in the game!" Taya shouted, but Waiston was too far gone now. "Jaxon, talk some sense into him!" Taya groaned, but unfortunately for her, Jaxon too was taken in by Jenny's amazing looks.

"Is she really playing this game…?" Mirajane asked in her usual sweet tone, her head tilting to the side slightly.

"She's pretty…" Cynthia said while staring at Jenny, but her eyes were then covered by a somewhat enraged Juvia.

"Juvia thinks Cynthia-san is too young to see this…on the other hand, how dare she preform such a pose in front of GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia grit her teeth in anger, obviously wondering how Jenny would have the audacity to do such a thing to Gray, but she was missing the point that it was to slow everyone down.

"Idiots…" Kagura shook her head, as Mermaid Heel continued on their way, obviously unfazed by Jenny's now seductive movements.

Daryan was completely awe-struck by the sight of Jenny, hearts literally flowing from his eyes. "S-She's amazingly beautiful!"

"T-tch…" Magnus' nose started to run, but he covered it up. "Not surprising that Blue Pegasus has the gall to pull such a move…"

"She's a goddess…" Alex said with hearts in her eyes, now in a trance like state.

"Alex, Daryan!" Gaia thwacked the two mages upside the side, snapping them out of their little trance. "Get your heads in the game!"

"People are staring at her breasts, aren't they…" Wendy said in a sort of depressed tone, poking her fingers together.

"Let's not think about that…!" Lucy said nervously as she ushered Wendy to keep moving.

"That…is…WILD!" Blues shouted, not caring that blood was running down his nose, but to bee fair, his nose wasn't the only one running from Quatro Cerberus.

"HELL YEAH!" Bacchus nodded in agreement.

Aira looked towards the males of her own team, only surprised to see that none of their noses were bleeding. "Whoa, you guys have improved!" Aira said with an approving nod.

"She's nothing special," Reve replied as Team A started to move forward.

"I don't get what everyone's even looking at…" Tak said rather oblivious to the situation.

"Now, it's time for my paralyzing perfume!" Ichiya nodded, now having most of the guilds right where he wanted them. Ichiya took out a small tube and opened it, releasing a paralyzing odor into the air. "Ren, Eve!"

"On it, Ichiya-san!" Eve and Ren said in unison. Ren used his Air magic to divert the perfume around Blue Pegasus and down to the other mages, while Eve used his snow magic to mix with Ren's air magic, creating a paralyzing blizzard to strike down on the mages.

"Watch out!" Kuro shouted.

"I got it!" With a smirk, Jaxon finally came back to his senses and twirled his finger counterclockwise, creating multiple magic seals in the air, which turned into tornadoes that sent the blizzard away from the B team. "Tornado Alley!"

"My turn!" Aira also twirled her finger, creating a wall of wind around the A team, which protected them from the paralyzing blizzard.

"I remember…" Rufus said with a smirk as he looked at Aira's wind wall, using his Memory Make to create an exact replica of the wall, protecting Sabertooth from the blizzard. The other guilds, however, weren't so lucky, as even with their defenses, none of them could halt the paralysis form happening, so they all stopped in their tracks.

"K-Kuso…!" Natsu grit his teeth, attempting to fight through the paralysis, but to no avail, and eventually his arms gave out, and he dropped Erza. "S-SHIT!"

"ERZA!" Both Fairy Tail A and B shouted with widened eyes, unable to do anything about it.

After about ten seconds of falling, Erza's eyes shot open, and she tucked her legs in, somersaulting as a holy light bathed her body. "Kanso!" Erza then flew up into the sky, now in her Heaven's Wheel armor, now well above any guild.

"She's up!" Lucy said with a large grin.

"Erza!" Wendy said with a relieved sigh.

"Oh, look at that, Titania's up…" Magnus said, not really too surprised by it.

"Erza-chan!" Ichiya said with a gasp, attempting to give her another look, but she was ignoring the perfume mage now.

Erza held her arm up, creating a multitude of swords in the air; all aimed all the guilds excluding Fairy Tail. "Heavens Wheel!" Erza then threw her arms down, sending the swords all down.

"T-Tch…Nothing up my sleeve…!" Rylo pulled his sleeves back; a clear magic circle appearing in front of him that took in all the swords Erza sent towards Twilight Zone.

"She's using a powerful offensive maneuver to keep us on the defensive, thus allowing us not to move…not bad, Titania…" Magus said with a somewhat impressed tone as Yakuza created a large black ice structure to block the incoming swords.

"Two can play at that game, Titania!" Reve said with a smirk as he spread his arms apart, creating a multitude of guns to match the swords. "Devil's Wheel!" The guns let loose bullets at the swords, resulting in explosions that chained across the Sky Labyrinth.

"There's going at it again…" Daryan said with a smirk.

"Perfect, let us use this moment to make it across the finish line." Gaia nodded, and Cosmic Star made their way to the GOAL line.

"Reve, stop messing around, we have to make it!" Luke shouted.

"Tch, yeah, yeah…I won't let her spoil the fun…" Reve nodded, and White Eclipse A and B hurried to the finish line, Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale, Twilight Zone, Fairy Tail A, B, Sabertooth, Quatro Cerberus, and Blue Pegasus now all making a mad dash for the GOAL sign.

"Erza, welcome back!" Laxus shouted with a somewhat small smirk.

"Sorry, I just can't stand that sight…" Erza said as she now ran alongside A team.

"We're close to making it; it's the final stretch!" Gajeel pointed out.

"Gaia, it's about that time," Magnus stated.

"I know, I haven't forgotten." Gaia nodded, and then turned her head unleashing an Earth Roar upon the unsuspecting Blue Pegasus, the attack knocking all five of them out, despite their efforts, now losing the lead they had before.

"Whoa, she took down the entire team with one attack…?" Alexander asked with a sort of surprised look.

"What is up with that one…?" Flynn asked.

"Doesn't matter, just keep moving, we're almost there." Evanee ordered.

"To your left," Magnus ordered.

"A and B are no fun, split the chance with everyone~" Gaia sung to herself as she unleashed another Earth Roar towards White Eclipse B.

"Whoa, Taya, look out!" Cygnus shouted.

"What? They aimed at us!?" Taya shouted, completely in shock as the Earth Roar slammed into the B team, leaving them on the ground, heavily damaged.

"Shit, she took out our B team!" Reve growled.

"Ha! That complicates everything, doesn't it, you assholes!" Gray smirked.

"Oh, I'm not done just yet…!" Gaia then slammed her hands on the ground, creating sharp stalagmites that popped from the ground, nearly skewering the members who were in the lead, but they all managed to slide to a stop fast enough.

"What is this, a game!?" Sting shouted in annoyance.

"I have you all just where I want you…" Gaia grinned, turning to Fairy Tail B, the most unsuspecting Team since they were in 5th place right about now. "Earth Roar…" Gaia unleashed another Earth Roar, this time upon Fairy Tail B.

"Look out!" Cynthia shouted.

"Gah, shit!" Gajeel attempted to cover himself in his iron scales, but it was too late, and the attack slammed into them, not knocking them out, but leaving them heavily damaged; right after that, the stalagmites vanished, now leaving Mermaid Heel, Sabertooth, Fairy Tail and White Eclipse A, Quatro Cerberus, Lamia Scale, Twlight Zone, and Cosmic Star, along with a recovering Blue Pegasus, all of which made a mad dash for the GOAL line, but Cosmic Star was the first to cross.

"Cosmic Star is in first-kabo!" Mato said with a nod.

"Do we cover for them!?" Aira asked.

"C-Cynthia…"! Wendy's eyes widened, but she knew in the end she would be okay, so she continued running alongside Fairy Tail A.

"We don't have time…" Reve replied, gritting his teeth. He now understood why Gaia attacked when she did; it left neither White Eclipse nor Fairy Tail enough time to buy time for their secondary teams. With little time to spar, White Eclipse A slid across the GOAL line, making second place.

"Second place!" Cygnus let out a sigh.

"We're too far behind; the guys limping are going to beat us…" Taranis said while looking at Blue Pegasus, who happened to be making good time despite their injuries.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Flynn said with a smirk as a magic circle appeared under the feet of Twilight Zone. "Mach 3!" The magic circle pulsated for a second, and then increased the speed of team Twilight Zone, sending them speeding past Blue Pegasus, and everyone else, landing third place.

"Whew, nice one, Flynn!" Rylo let out a sigh of relief and high fived the speed mage.

"Give a little warning next time you do something like that…" Evanee said with a slight groan; Flynn's sudden burst caused her motion sickness to act up, but she fought through it.

Just then, Fairy Tail slid into fourth place, higher than last year, but lower than they were expecting. "We made it…" Lucy let out a sigh. Following Fairy Tail, Quatro Cerberus made their way into fifth, Lamia Scale sixth, Sabertooth surprising seventh, and Mermaid Heel brought up the rear, making eight place, just barely beating Blue Pegasus.

"S-Shit…we didn't make it in…" Taya said with an agitated groan, glaring at Gaia from her current position as she and the rest of White Eclipse B stood up slowly.

"That's going to put a damper in things…" Jaxon said while holding his head.

"D-Dammit…that stupid…" Gajeel groaned somewhat as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Tch, just when we thought we were gonna make it…" Laxus scowled at Cosmic Star, refusing to admit their timing was perfect for what they did.


	47. Chapter 47: Tower Climb

"What the hell happened to you all…?" Jack asked as both White Eclipse A and B made their way back inside the hotel.

"We made it," Luke replied with a nod.

"They why does B team look so glum…?" Zalen asked with a confused expression.

"A team made it," Taya replied, crossing her arms with the most irritated look on her face. "We were snuffed out towards the end…"

"What?" Calium raised a brow, turning over to Reve after. "Reve, what is this about? I thought you'd have each other's backs."

"We did for a good portion of it, old man," Reve replied, letting out an annoyed huff after. "But that other guild, Cosmic Star, snuffed out both our B team and Fairy Tail's B team towards the end, and if we wasted any time, we wouldn't have gotten in at all."

"I don't like those guys…" Aira said aloud, getting a few nods of agreement from her fellow members.

"So, what's the plan now?" Nami asked as a pout started to form on her lips. "I was sure we were going to have ten members in…"

"We're just going to have to make due with five," Luke sighed.

"Heh, what are you sighing for, Cloud?" Reve asked as his usual cocky smirk made an appearance on his face. "Ten members, five; what does it matter? We're here this week to prove one thing and one thing only; that White Eclipse is number one. A challenge is now upon us, since things didn't go according to plan, but so what? If we let a little hurtle like this stop us, how the hell can we look at all those guilds we're going up against and say we're better? I'll be damned if that happens."

"He's right," Taya said as a small smile managed its way onto her annoyed expression. "Nice speech, cowboy."

"Well said, Reve," Waiston said with a smirk. "Team B may have been snuffed out, but we can still do this! Wanna know why? Because it's White Eclipse…"

"Or second place!" The guild members shouted in unison.

.

.

"I-I'm sorry…" Cynthia sniffed as Wendy finished healing her. "I should've seen that attack coming…"

"Stop beating yourself up over it…" Lucy said with a comforting smile.

"Tch, those space bastards are really annoying…" Gajeel said with a scowl. "We were close to making it in too…"

"I wasn't expecting the team in the lead to attack the team all the way in fifth…" Mirajane said as she placed a hand on her cheek. "It certainly caught me off guard…"

"At least we managed to get one team in…" Makarov said with a nod. "B team's efforts won't be for nothing…"

"Are we going to keep our team the same, Master?" Erza asked as she crossed her arms.

"Hm…" Makarov closed his eyes and lowered his head. "There are a few minor changes I'd like to have; I hope any of you don't mind…"

.

.

"Top four, how about that…" Rylo let out a sigh, relaxing on the back of the couch.

"Not bad timing Flynn," Evanee said with a nod.

"All in a day's work…" Flynn nodded, smirking slightly.

"Nice job on getting in, guys!" Tsami said with a nod and wide smile.

"Now we're gonna win this thing, right!?" Melanie said with a large smile.

"Of course!" Rylo replied, his relaxing expression turning into a cocky one. "We didn't come this far for nothing, and we sure aren't gonna lose now!"

"We should get rest," Taranis nodded. "It's gonna get intense tomorrow, no doubt."

.

.

"Excellent," Karma said while nodding slowly in approval to Cosmic Star. "First place, wonderful job!"

"All in a day's work, Master," Magnus said with a bow.

"Magnus, I see your talent has sharpened immensely since I was last around, I'm impressed," Karma gave a subtle grin to the know-it-all.

"Oh, it's nothing, master," Magnus said with a sheepish smile.

"We made first place, though! Now, we're going to keep that up for the rest of the games, right!?" Alex asked.

"Ah, yes, and I do hope that none of you get injured during the games…I don't want to have to call on…"him"…"

"H-Him…? Why even bring him up!?" Yakuza asked.

"Wahaha! I'm just pulling your legs!" Karma said with a laugh, which eventually turned into a cough.

"Oi, I know laughter is the best medicine, but it wouldn't be a good thing if you ended up coughing up a lung…"

"Ah, a good joke every once in a while never brought anyone harm!" Karma protested.

"Right…" Gaia merely rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I think it's about time we got some rest, even dragons need their beauty sleep, you know?"

"Yes, yes, get some rest, you five." Karma nodded.

.

.

"Whoa, Layanna, you look tired," Correll said as Layanna returned to the Council outpost in Crocus. "What happened to you?"

"The assassin is here in Crocus…" Layanna replied, shocking the councilmen.

"What!? They have the nerve to show up HERE?!" Odin asked.

"Hm…" Aloy rubbed his chin before looking to Layanna. "Did you see where they came from?"

Layanna shook her head in response, obviously somewhat disappointed in herself. "They were going somewhere, meaning they were just about to start an assassination, but they escaped…however, I did nothing something…"

"And what's that?" Lahar asked while looking towards the vanilla blonde curiously.

"The assassin is a female…" Layanna replied.

"A female, eh…?" Correll said to himself.

"Hey, look Correll, a woman you can finally chase after with no consequences," Odin said with a sly smirk.

"Alright listen here…" Correll started.

"It's late," Aloy interrupted.

"We have the games to supervise as well," Doranbolt continued.

"Yes, of course," Odin nodded.

"I will pass this information to Sierain-sama," Layanna nodded.

.

.

The Grand Magic Games Stadium was in an uproar, the people cheering excitedly for the competition to come. "Hello one and all, to the X792 Grand Magic Games-kabo!" Mato shouted from the center of the arena, a larger protection of the pumpkin-headed host appearing above him to relay his image. "This year proves to be an interesting one-kabo! And now, to introduce the guilds!"

In the commentators section, there was Chapati, joined by the former council member, Yamjima, and as a guest commentator for the day, Jenny Realight of the losing Blue Pegasus team. Blue Pegasus, even though they didn't make it, decided to sit in the stands and watch the Games anyway. "I believe we're going to have an exciting year this time around!" Chapati said with a nod.

"In first place!" Mato started as a thin smoke cloud appeared to introduce the team. "A new, upcoming guild which managed to dominate the preliminaries, Cosmic Star-kabo!" When the smoke cloud cleared, Cosmic Star was seen, waving to everyone as the crowd gave a surprised applause for them.

"Mwah!" Alex blew kisses to the audience waving after. "We're here to win!"

"In second place, we have White Eclipse!" Mato turned; spotting White Eclipse, but the lineup was a little different than he remembered. The lineup this time was Reve, Luke, Takeru, Aira, and Taya.

"White Eclipse claims to be the strongest guild in Fiore," Chapati said, mainly giving out just what he knew about them.

"They have proven their strength, but this is a competition, after all, so I look forward to see if they can put their money where their mouth is in the end," Yajima said with a nod.

"It will be interesting, I agree," Jenny said with a nod.

"In third place, another new guild has risen-kabo! Twilight Zone!" Mato shouted, and from the sidelines came Twilight Zone, all ready to go.

"Oh man, look at all these people…" Flynn said, marveling at the amount of people watching the games.

"Heh and they're all about to enter the Twilight Zone…" Rylo said with a smirk, fixing his precious top hat.

"In fourth place, lower than they had before-kabo…Fairy Tail!" Mato introduced Fairy Tail, who also had a different line up, only slightly, however. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Mirajane, and Wendy.

"We may have gotten fourth place, but we're still gonna come out number one!" Natsu said with a confident smirk, projecting his voice so everyone in the stadium could hear him.

"That's cute, Salamander…" Takeru shouted back as his own smirk started to form.

"Oh, it looks like those two have a little rivalry going on," Jenny commented, unable to help but smile slightly.

"That's just one of the many rivalries with the larger one," Yajima nodded.

"In fifth place, Quatro Ceberus!" Mato exclaimed, introducing the wild guild. "In sixth place, Lamia Scale! And with a surprising drop from last year, in seventh place, Sabertooth!"

The two guilds walked into the arena; Sting and Rouge immediately turned their eyes to Alexander of Twilight Zone. "I knew he looked familiar…" Sting mumbled to himself.

"What's wrong, Sting?" Yukino asked.

"That Alexander guy, he used to be part of Sabertooth. In fact, he trained under…"her""

"Minerva..?" Rouge asked, and then it all came back to him. "Yes…I remember now…he was her disciple…But after we lost last year and most of our members vanished, he must have too…"

"And finally, last but not least, the all-female guild, Mermaid Heel!" Mato exclaimed once again, now having formally introduced the eight guilds that will compete for number one.

"Well, I can't wait to see how much he's learned…" Sting said as a smirk formed on his lips.

On the top of the stadium, an area where no one would really look, Maggie, Kiora, Daityas, Tobias, Sora, Ruika, Horoki, Ur, Byron, Blake, Diana, Veronica, Zancrow, and Rustyrose were watching the teams introduced. "Looks like we got a pretty interesting line up this year, eh?" Maggie said while eating a bag of chips she received from Luke earlier in the day.

"I thought White Eclipse and Fairy Tail had two teams?" Byron tilted his head.

"I heard from the White Eclipse ninny that both White Eclipse B and Fairy Tail B were knocked out near the end," Maggie replied.

"I'm interested to see if Kuro will be participating in these games…" Daityas started. "I'll be quite…upset…if all that training he and I did ends up going to waste…"

"Oh…?" Diana blinked a few times, eying Luke from above, eventually nudging Blake a few times. "Look who we have over there…"

"Hm?" Blake blinked a few times before chuckling. "My, my…look at him, all grown up…"

"What are you two laughing at?" Kiora asked as she used Rustyrose as a seat.

"Oh, just someone competing, that's all, don't mind us," Diana gave a dismissive wave. "Anyway, I think things are about to start now…"

The teams returned to their respective sections after being introduced, and Mato pointed up, the scoreboard appearing; all teams at zero points, of course, but that would change soon enough. "Alright-kabo! It's now time for the beginning of the Grand Magic Games, and we'll start things off with the first event!"

"I wonder what it's gonna be…" Selene asked the others, hoping anyone of them would have an answer.

"No use asking us, Selene," Sidney replied.

"The events aren't revealed until the last second, and the rules aren't explained until later on." Calium nodded.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure we'll wipe the floor with the competition," Cygnus said with a cocky tone.

"I'd feel a lot better if we had that B team around…" Romeo said with a slight frown.

"Oh, don't fret!" Mavis said, appearing out of nowhere, which caused the members to jump.

"F-First master?!" Makarov said with a bit of surprise.

"Oh, hello!" Mavis said while giving a sweet smile, making herself comfortable and took a seat on the railing, kicking her feet happily. "This is my favorite time of the year, you know! I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"She's so cute I just wanna pick her up and squeeze her!" Cynthia placed her hands on her cheeks, internally flailing.

"Kagura, huh?" Magnus eyed the Mermaid Heel ace from afar.

"What do you think about her?" Gaia asked while crossing her arms.

"She could be a threat if not…"dealt" with…" Magnus nodded.

"So, what I'm hearing is we'll want a little handicap in our favor?" Daryan asked as a slow smirk found its way onto his face. Daryan then pointed his finger forward discreetly as a tiny tan magic circle appeared.

"Daryan, no, not yet!" Magnus whispered; but it was too late, Daryan already fired a hairline thin bone at Kagura, but his timing was off. Risley stood in front of Kagura, and the hairline bone went through Risley's side, causing the gravity change mage's eyes to widen as blood started to leak out slowly, but the internal damage was great. Risley let out a shrilling shriek of pain, just as Mato was about to finally announce the event.

"W-What happened!?" Mato asked, completely confused by the sudden scream.

"R-Risley!?" Kagura's eyes widened as Risley fell over.

"Is she okay?!" Milliana's eyes widened as much as they could, while the other guilds were in bewilderment at the current situation.

"What the…?" Evanee turned, looking around at all the guilds, but to her, no one, not even Cosmic Star, seemed suspicious at the time.

"I-It appears Risley Law of Mermaid Heel has been injured…somehow…!" Jenny said with a shocked tone and expression.

"Alright a member down…?" Erza turned to Mermaind Heel, mainly to face Kagura, but Kagura left to put Risley in the infirmary. "We haven't even started yet and something is going on…"

"Is Mermaid Heel out ALREADY?" Kiora said in a disappointed tone. "I guess I couldn't expect much from a group of bimbos…"

"Pssh, weak…" Veronica sighed.

"I-I guess Mermaid Heel can't compete without a replacement…kabo…" Mato said after regaining his composure.

"Who said they didn't have a replacement!?" A voice said form Mermaid Heel's section.

"They have someone else…?" Lucy asked as she looked over.

Just at the moment, Melody hopped out, grinning widely, though her appearance shocked those who knew her. "Melody Silver: Silver Make Mage of Mermaid Heel, at your service!"

Veronica jumped back, looking pale, almost as if she'd see a ghost, unable to even form a coherent sentence. "T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T…."

"Use your words, love," Maggie said while raising a brow to Veronica.

"W-What is SHE doing here!?" Juvia shouted, being held back by Gray.

"I'm pretty sure I shot her in the stomach several months ago…" Reve said while narrowing his eyes at Melody.

"I'll have a talk with Kagura about this later…" Erza nodded slowly.

"W-Well! It appears they do have a replacement! So now we can finally get started!" Mato nodded as the crowd cheered. Eight contestants came down and into the middle of the arena near Mato. Mirajane, Luke, Yakuza, Melody, Rocker, Sting, Toby, and Flynn, were the ones who decided to do the first events. "Everyone's here-kabo? Well, let's begin!" Mato grinned, and took a few steps back; seconds later a large tower shot up from the ground, reaching a good distance into the sky. "This is the first event! The Tower Climb!"

"That…is a very big tower…" Flynn blinked a few times.

"I don't…do heights…" Melody's face comically turned white as she stared up at the tower.

"Here are the rules! Once you step inside the tower, the only way to go is up! The tower will collapse form the bottom up, leaving only the finishing platform standing, so if you fall out and hit the ground, you're automatically out!" Mato explained. "The winner is the first person who reaches the top platform." As the pumpkin headed host explained, the eight contestants walked into the tower, noticing the intricate design of the interior, along with floating platforms, sturdy walls, and only one path; up.

"Why do I feel like he's leaving something out…?" Zalen asked as the lacrima screens popped up, giving the viewers a look inside the tower to watch the competition.

"Are they competitors ready…? Begin!" Mato shouted.

"Let's rock!" Luke immediately used his surprisingly well leg strength up hop from platform to platform, beginning his ascend.

"You're not leaving me in the dust, copy cat!" Sting shouted, running to a wall and using his momentum to run up it for a few seconds, performing a backflip as he landed on a platform in hot pursuit.

"Let's get IT STARTED OOOOON!" Toby shouted, following behind Sting and Luke, only to be in front of Rocker, who just started.

"Ha! You four enjoy the long way!" Flynn smirked, getting in a running position, and used his speed magic to his advantage as he raced up the wall of the interior, gunning for the top without delay.

"He reminds me of Racer, somewhat…" Mirajane thought to herself as a magic circle appeared over her body, and she entered her Satan Soul takeover, immediately bursting off into the air.

"Hey, wait up!" Melody shouted as she placed her fist into her palm as a silver magic circle appeared. "Silver Make: Grapping Hook!" From the silver magic circle, a grappling hook shot out, wrapping around Mirajane's leg just before she was out of reach, pulling up Melody who let out a yelp from Mirajane's speed.

"Idiots…" Yakuza merely stepped on the ground, creating a black glacier that rose up; an idea he got from Waiston. After Yakuza made his move, the bottom of the tower started to crumble.

"Hey, that's my thing!" Waiston shouted, rather infuriated.

"Calm down, Waiston!" Nami said, urging the ice dragon slayer to calm down.

"H-Hey…get off!" Mirajane shouted to Melody who decided to hitch a ride, shaking her leg in attempt to get her off.

"N-Never!" Melody replied, tightening her grip on the grappling hook, which also started to squeeze Mirajane's leg, slowly cutting off the circulation in that leg, but neither party was aware of this at the moment.

"Chow time, Copy Cat!" Sting shouted, making a huge leap upward, landing on a platform higher than anyone else at the moment. Sting cupped his hands together, creating a blinding white sphere of light in the empty space, then threw his hands forward, unleashing multiple rays of light down on the other contestants. "White Dragon's Holy Ray!"

"Gah!" Luke spread his hands out, creating a crystallized ice shield in front of him. "Ice Make: Shield!" The shield held on, as not all of the holy rays were aimed at Luke, so it only received little damage in the end.

"Wild!" Rocker grinned, using his Drill 'N Rock magic to rotate his entire left arm as though it was a drill, and he easily smacked away any holy ray's coming in his direction.

"That's how ya do it, Rocker!" Bacchus shouted from the QC section.

"Tch…" Mirajane didn't want to risk any risky movements, especially with the extra weight on her leg, so she merely covered up, allowing a few holy rays to strike her, but with her durability, she really didn't take much damage, and Melody was unharmed, enjoying the ride so far despite the demon's attempts to throw her off.

"OOON!" Toby shouted, getting into things as he actually evaded the holy rays Sting sent, and surprised the white dragon slayer by extending his paralyzing claws, aiming a slash at Sting, but he managed to dodge, just barely, and Toby rolled onto another platform.

"Ha, slowpokes!" Flynn shouted, evading the Holy Ray's just by being fast, continuing his trek up the wall.

"Don't even look back, Flynn!" Rylo shouted.

"Troublesome…" Yakuza took the holy rays head on, coming out with minimal damage. He was staying behind everyone else, but still ahead of the falling tower, still riding his black glacier to the top. Yakuza clenched his fist, causing a black ice spike to appear just in front of Flynn. "Evade that."

"GAH!" Flynn slid to a halt, a crucial mistake as he lost all of his momentum, and fell from the wall, landing on his back on a platform.

"Wow, this is already starting off pretty intense!" Jenny said with an amazed smile.

"Things have just started and already all eight competitors are giving it their all!"

"Come on, Luke; don't let the blondie beat ya!" Heather shouted.

The eight competitors traveled up the tower with no real difficult, making it about halfway…that's when things really started to pick up. Erza couldn't help but notice the snicker of Mato. "What's he laughing for…?"

"GET OFF ALREADY!" Mirajane shouted in a highly annoyed tone, starting to lose feeling in the leg Melody had her grappling hook around as she flailed said leg around.

"MAKE ME!" Melody replied. Just then, a large tile of the tower moved up, and a moderately sized magic cannon appeared in front of Melody and Mirajane.

"Is that a cannon," Kairi asked with her jaw dropping slightly.

"Mira, watch out!" Lucy shouted.

"OHP! GOTTA GO!" Melody immediately released her old on Mirajane, falling down, but she quickly used her Silver Make to make two Hookshots, using those to regain her momentum.

"Gah…!" Mirajane immediately flew up in a quick burst, the magic cannon firing just as she did so, blasting an entire section of the continually crumbling tower.

"I knew he was hiding something!" Zalen shouted.

"What's that about!?" Beth shouted.

"Well, it wouldn't be fun if the contestants were only fighting each other to the top…so why not have the tower join in no the fun-kabo?" Mato replied. "Don't worry, they aren't strong enough to kill someone-kabo! Injury on the other hand..."

"Oh isn't this just great?!" Flynn shouted as he used his speed to hop from platform, seeing as how the wall was not an option anymore with the multitude of cannons now forming.

"OON!" Toby shouted, now jumping behind Sting, who was behind Luke, who was now behind Rocker. Mirajane and Melody were bringing up the rear, along with Yakuza, who continued to his black glaciers to ascend.

"Toby-dono, watch out!" Jura shouted, but it was too late. A magic cannon took aim at Toby, and fired, landing a direct hit, knocking Toby out without any trouble, and the Lamia Scale mage fell to the ground, meaning Lamia Scale automatically gained no points since Toby was the first to fall off, meaning he attained last place.

"And Lamia Scale gets last place automatically!" Chapati shouted.

"That's one down…" Yakuza said with a grin, his ascend now accelerating as he shot past Mirajane and Melody, who were catching up on the others.

"Now…" Mirajane said to herself as she released her true speed, shooting past Sting, Luke, and Rocker, and Flynn.

"Whoa, she's fast!" Rocker said in amazement as Mirajane shot past them.

"Not faster than me!" Flynn replied as he activated his slowly magic, slowing down the other contestants by about 50%, using this as an advantage to hop above Mirajane, who had no time to react to the powerful axe kick Flynn delivered, sending Mirajane hurtling down.

"Nice one, Fylnn!" Tsami shouted with glee.

"Go, Flynn!" Melanie cheered.

"Not bad…" Caelestis thought to himself.

"Byyyye!" Melody shouted as Mirajane fell past her, shooting her double hook shots to ascend herself.

Another magic cannon took aim, this time at the three mages currently battling for second place; Luke, Sting, and Rocker. "Ah, shit…" Luke exclaimed, immediately using a spell he copied from Tobias long ago. "Magic Guard!" And a blue barrier appeared around Luke, increasing his magical defense.

"That little shit is using my magic!" Tobias shouted.

"Nobody cares, now hush," Kiora replied. "Good thing nobody picked dog boy as their choice."

"I bet the Demon's gonna take it in the end," Horoki replied.

"Nah, it's totally gonna be the Ice guy, bet," Byron nodded.

"That's what we're doing, smart guy…" Ur replied. "Now hush…"

The Magic cannon fired, striking the three mages directly. The impact sent Sting and Rocker anding on two different platforms, while Luke was still on the same platform, the damage cut from the blast so he wasn't knocked out, but he was now balancing himself on the edge of a platform so he wouldn't fall. "G-Gah…"

"Keep your balance!" Aira shouted.

Mirajane, having recovered from Flynn's strike earlier, landed on the platform Luke was trying to stay balanced on, and with a sweet smile on her now demonic face, she tapped Luke's chest with her foot, causing the copy mage to fall over. "Have a nice fall~" Mirajane giggled before bursting off again.

"GAH!" Luke shouted, falling, but his eyes shifted from Melody to Yakuza, who had a rather large glacier going. "Ice Make: Grappling Hook!" Luke shouted, sending a grappling hook to a part of Yakuza's ongoing glacier, using it to support himself as he launched himself up, now ahead of Yakuza. "Ice Make: Kite!" And with that, a kite made of ice appeared on Luke's back, quickly picking up any and all wind currents under him, which sent him soaring into the sky.

"Nice save, Luke!" Skye shouted, though she looked rather tired, despite her exuberance.

Rocker and Sting were now battling for second place; literally. Sting infused his fist with white energy, throwing it towards Rocker, but the wild made dodged it, and spun his entire leg like a drill, landing a devastating kick to Sting's face, sending the White Dragon hurtling from the platform, unable to do anything to recover, Sting landed on the ground, in seventh place.

"Sabertooth is out?!" Mato shouted in surprise.

"WILD ROCKER! KEEP IT UP!" Blues shouted.

"S-Sting!" Yukino gasped as Sting hit the ground.

"Sting-kun!" Lector said with widened eyes.

"HA! The Blonde is down!" Ruika said with a mocking laugh. "Who's the poor sap who bet on him?"

With a groan, Maggie and Blake slowly slid their jewels over. "Stupid…" They both mumbled at the same time.

"I wonder if anyone will actually make it to the top or will it just come down to the last one standing…" Mavis thought aloud.

"If that's the case, Mirajane has this in the bag! She's the strongest one in there!" Levy said with a nod.

"I wonder if she can take a full hit from the magic cannon…" Cynthia thought to herself.

"Only six of them left, and Flynn is in the lead so far…" Taranis said with a nod.

"Let's hope he can stay there…" Evanee mumbled quietly.

"Only six left, and I'm taking that first place!" Flynn shouted, his slowing magic still on, which is why he seemed so fast to everyone else.

"Damn, never gonna catch that guy…!" Melody groaned before she got an idea. "Ah ha! Alright, it's dynamic time…Silver Make: Wings!" Melody held onto her hookshots, but now a pair of beautiful silver wings appeared on her back, which she used to take flight, now catching up to Mirajane.

"So far there's Flynn, me, Rocker, Mirajane, Melody, and Yakuza…in that order…" Luke thought to himself, Rocker hot on his trail as they crossed the three quarter mark, which only resulted in one thing: More Magic Cannons. "AH CRAP."

Luckily for Luke, a magic cannon wasn't aimed at him again, this time a one shot at Yakuza's glacier, destroying it completely as the Ice god fell. "Shit…!" Yakuza clapped his hands together, creating black ice from the air, which happened to be a set of his own platforms, which he used to now hop to the top.

"I got this in the bag!" Flynn said with a grin, catching sight of the finish line.

"Are you sure?" Mirajane asked as she now appeared on Flynn's side, in her Halphas form to negate the effects of Flynn's slowing magic somewhat, her hands cupped as a cosmic like sphere formed in her hands.

"GANOANVAON!" Flynn jumped to an out of the way platform, just barely avoiding Mirajane's attack; but it was thanks to this that Mirajane now snagged the lead, Luke in second, Melody in third, Rocker in fourth close behind, and Yakuza now passed Flynn, taking fifth place.

"Flynn, get up!" Alexander shouted.

"Gah…" Flynn groaned, seeing that not only had everyone gotten ahead of him, but he was about to fall due to the crumbling tower, AND the magic cannons decided to be happy and fire all over the place. "THIS IS WAY MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT NEEDS TO BE."

"Almost…there…" Mirajane mumbled to herself, but she found that another grappling hook wrapped around her legs, slowing her down. "W-What the…!?" Mrajane turned around only to find that both Melody and Luke had used grappling hooks to slow the demon down.

"This is my ride!" Melody shouted.

"I'm borrowing her for just a second!" Luke shouted. "We're almost there, as you can see…and I just need…A LITTLE BOOST!" With a smirk, Luke released Mirajane, allowing his ice kite to pick up even more air which shot him forward, and onto the platform, landing first place.

"THAT'S MY BOY!" Reve shouted.

"Oh wow…" Diana said with some surprise. "Copycat won…"

"NOT SO FAST!" Flynn shouted as a magic circle appeared underneath his feet. "MACH 3!" Once again, the speedster hopped forward, his speed surprising the remaining contestants as Flynn sped his way into second place.

"ATTA BOY FYLNN!" Rylo shouted. With a slight growl, Mirajane attempted another burst forward, but before she could, Yakuza slid his way into third place, surprising Mirajane as she crossed fourth, and since Melody was literally right behind her, she got fifth, while Rocker crossed last, getting sixth for his team, and the tower had crumbled to nothing, and the platform at the top descended onto the ground.

"We have our winner-kabo!" Mato shouted. "In first place, White Eclipse! In second, Twilight Zone, third; Cosmic Star; fourth: Fairy Tail; Fifth: Mermaid Heel; Sixth: Quatro Cerberus; Seventh: Sabertooth, and last but not least, in last place so far, Lamia Scale!"

Mirajane allowed her takeover to vanish as she looked on with a slight frown. "Fourth…?"

"Don't worry, sweet cheeks," Yakuza replied. "It's only the beginning, after all."

"You did great, Mira-nee!" Lisanna shouted.

"A Man acknowledges when his sister did the best of her ability!" Elfman nodded.

"LUKE!" White Eclipse shouted in glee.

"Heh…just in a day's work…" Luke winced, his body now covered in heavy injuries as he and the other guilds returned to their respective areas.

"Not bad," Adam nodded.

"That was a little close…that speed guy almost had it…" Luke replied.

"You did great, Cloud," Reve said while patting Luke on the back.

"You don't look so hot…" Heather replied as she looked Luke over.

"I'm fine," Luke replied with a nod.

"No you're not," Aira interrupted. "That cannon hit pretty hard, didn't it?"

"Well yeah, but…" Luke started, but before he could continue, Heather started to drag him off.

"You're resting, someone fill in for him for the rest of the day," Heather demanded.

"W-Wait! I have to stay and watch the battles! It's a rule!" Luke protested.

"Jaxon, you up for it?" Reve asked.

"Of course!" Jaxon nodded.

"Third place? Not bad, but it could've been better…" Gaia said.

"That cannon tripped me up…" Yakuza replied.

"Don't worry about it; the battle segments are next!" Alex nodded.

"Not a bad start, of course…" Erza nodded to Mirajane, and then looked at the score board. "White Eclipse: 10. Twilight Zone: 8. Cosmic Star: 6. Fairy Tail: 4. Mermaid Heel: 3. Quatro Cerberus: 2. Sabertooth: 1, and Lamia Scale: 0."

"One point…that's a large difference from last year…" Rouge commented.

"Sorry guys…" Sting said with a groan.

"Don't worry, Sting-kun! You'll knock them dead in the next round!" Lector said reassuringly.

"Now it's time for the first battle of the day!" Mato said with an enlarged grin. "First off, we have Twilight Zone's Rylo Yukata vs. Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis!"

"A wizard saint…?" Rylo's eyes widened in a comical fashion.

"Ah, come on, you got it!" Flynn said reassuringly.

"You can do it, Jura!" Chelia shouted out.

"You better win, Jura, or I will spin you!" Ooba shouted, actually spinning Toby for losing the event before.

Rylo and Jura walked into the arena, the crowd cheering. "Rylo, is it?" Jura asked.

"That's right, Jura," Rylo nodded.

"Ah…Well, I'm sure you will give me a fine battle, Rylo-dono," Jura said with a bow of respect, then gave a nonchalant smirk to Rylo, stroking his beard as he started to speak again. "But, I must apologize to you beforehand; I am not going to hold back…"


	48. Chapter 48: Rylo vs Jura

"Are both fighters ready-kabo?" Mato asked as he looked back and forth between the two soon to be combatants.

"A wizard saint vs. a S class mage from a new guild, this match should prove to be a good one..." Jenny said as she crossed her legs, resting her elbows on her side of the table.

"You got it, Rylo!" Flynn shouted.

"Hm..." Evanee crossed her arms, just looking at the arena in general.

"Come on, Jura!" Lyon shouted.

"I am ready," Jura nodded.

"As am I." Rylo replied with a nod.

"Then begin!" Mato shouted as a bell rang.

"Nothing up my sleeve!" Rylo shouted as he rolled his sleeves up, a clear magic circle appearing in front of him as he unleashed the swords he captured in the magic circle from Erza's assault during the preliminary.

"Those swords..." Erza mumbled to herself while eying Rylo.

"Hm..." Jura extended his hand, bringing up a finger, resulting in two pillars of earth to appear in front of him, easily blocking the swords with no trouble. "I can tell he is a powerful wizard..." Jura thought to himself as a golden light surrounded his body, and he extended his other arm forward, sending the pillars he used for defense for offense, sending them hurtling towards Rylo.

"Ah...so this is what he was talking about..." Gaia said to herself.

"Tch..." Rylo narrowed his eyes, but quickly got an idea as he removed his top hat, pointing it towards the incoming pillars. Rylo's hat then unleashed a high pressurized stream of water, cutting through the pillars with ease reducing them to nothing but rubble, and sped towards Jura.

"Impressive reaction time," Jura thought to himself once again as he created a wall of rock and iron in front of him, allowing it to take the high pressurized water, and even shatter after taking the hit. This was a part of Jura's plan, however, as he clapped his hands, now taking control of the rubble Rylo created from the water, and sent all the rocks hurtling towards the slight of hand mage.

"He reacted so fast..." Rylo thought to himself as he used his break dancing background to dance away from most of the rubble now coming his way, but he wasn't able to evade all of it, and a few pieces of rubble hit him hard, forcing Rylo to slide back a few feet.

"It appears we've made it just in time..." Jellal said as he, Meredy, and Ultear took a seat in a near secluded section of the stands, hoods covering their faces. "Jura is fighting..."

"I wonder who he's fighting against..." Meredy tilted her head somewhat.

"Hn..." Ultear paid no attention to Meredy or Jellal; she felt an odd presence in the air around her...it felt familiar to her, however, and that was exactly what made her feel uneasy.

"I can tell just by watching that Jura's already improved since last year," Jellal said while giving a slight nod. "He's is a worthy opponent."

"Ranked 5 on the ten wizard saints; that mage is in for a fight..." Lyon said while giving an already victorious smirk.

"He's powerful..." Alexander commented.

"Rylo can handle him," Evanee replied to Alexander, but she didn't take her eyes of the match.

"Not bad, Jura!" Rylo said over to the wizard saint with a smirk. But, you can't hit what you can't see!" And with that, a magic circle appeared under Rylo, running through his body as he seemingly vanished from the naked eye.

"He vanished?!" Yuka said with widened eyes.

"Keep your guard up, Jura!" Chelia shouted, cupping her hands to the side of her mouth to amplify her voice.

Rylo moved from his original position slightly, then flicked his wrist, creating a card behind himself, and a card behind Jura, which then released a violent gust of wind aiming to sweep the heavy male off his feet. "Is this your card?"

"Interesting move, Rylo-Dono!" Jura replied with a smile as he quickly extended his hand, creating a pillar of rock to shield him from the violent gust of wind. "But, just because I can't see you, doesn't mean I don't know where you are!" Jura shouted, pointing his index finger and middle finger upwards, sending a giant fist of rock and iron from the ground hurtling to the exact location where the invisible Rylo was, using his phenomenal ability to sense the magical power of others to pinpoint Rylo's location. "Rock iron fist!"

"WH-?!" Before Rylo could react, the fist slammed into him, sending him halfway across the field before he finally managed to recover, sliding across the ground as a result, his invisibility fading.

"He hit an invisible Rylo?!" Flynn said in amazement.

"Even I could figure that out," Daryan replied while waving a dismissive hand.

"And Jura never fails to show why he is the fifth ranked Wizard Saint! Hitting an invisible opponent like it's nothing!" Chapati commented, his eyes glued onto the battle.

Jura wasn't even close to being finished, however. As soon as Rylo was in sight, Jura extended his other hand, bringing up his middle and index fingers as the same time, this time sending two iron rock fist in Rylo's direction. "Iron Rock Fist!"

"Again?" Rylo narrowed his eyes, not to he outdone by the same trick twice. As an iron rock fist hurtled towards him, Rylo jumped up, and actually landed on the fist, starting a sprint forward. This didn't last long as the other fist quickly headed in his direction, but the s class mage smirked, rolling his sleeves up as a clear magic circle appeared in front of him, absorbing the iron rock fist, since in the end, the large chunk of earth was nothing but a projectile. "Nothing up my sleeve!"

"He took in the fist?!" Chelia asked with utter amazement.

"Hm...not bad..." Lyon thought to himself. "But, against Jura, that's not good enough."

"That's a clever move," Jenny explained while giving a nod of approval, showing she was impressed.

Rylo continued his assault, sprinting forward across the arm of the fist that failed to attack him and jumped up, pointing his top hat forward as he unleashed another powerful vortex of flames upon Jura. "Eh?" Jura reacted faster, and somewhat hastily than before as be brought his hand up, creating two pillars to protect him from the flames, since that's what he had to do last time, but Rylo used far more power than last time. So the flames managed to break the first pillar, and some of the fire burned Jura's clothing, but it wasn't anything the wizard saint couldn't handle.

Rylo was now a few feet from Jura, and with a smirk, he rolled his sleeves down, creating a clear magic circle in front of him. "Nothing up my sleeve." The circle then unleashed the iron rock fist Rylo took in just before.

"Iron rock wall!" Jura pointed his index finger up, creating multiple walls of rock and iron in front of him, but the Iron Rock fist destroyed each and every wall, turning them into rubble, and slammed into Jura, causing the Wizard Saint to slide back a few feet, though the impact was softened somewhat due to the iron rock walls from before.

"He hit Jura!" Jellal said in amazement.

"Impressive..." Gaia said with an approving nod.

"And look at that!" Chapati shouted in amazement.

"He struck the wizard saint...?!" Jenny asked as her eyes widened.

"Oh, this is an impressive mage, that's for sure..." Yajima said with a nod.

"Wizard saint is just a title..." Adam said as he crossed his arms. "Sure, the mage is powerful, but he's not unbeatable...I don't see what you humans are getting so worked up over..."

"You're a dragon, I'm sure you could beat a man such as him no trouble," Cygnus replied.

"For humans, however," Luke continued as he leaned on the railing, watching the fight intently. "A man such as him is no easy opponent."

"Impressive, Rylo-Dono..." Jura said with a smile and a nod, but before he allowed Rylo to get too comfortable, the wizard saint moved his hand, taking control of all the rubble on the ground, and moved his hand in an arc, sending the rubble raining down harshly on Rylo. "Rock Avalanche!"

Rylo nodded at Jura's comment, however what happened next took him off guard completely. The Rock Avalanche was so fast and Rylo literally had no time to even defend himself, so the rocks slammed into him, falling to the ground harmlessly after, revealing a heavily damaged Rylo. "I-I guess they don't call you a wizard saint for nothing..." Rylo said somewhat quietly over to Jura before placing his top hat on the ground, smirking slightly as he lifted it up, revealing a beautiful woman, who actually happened to he a sort of spirit. "Jura, I'd like you to meet my lovely assistant!" The assistant nodded, and a glow started to appear around Rylo's body as the assistant started boost Rylo's stats.

Jura knew Rylo was planning something, but he didn't allow it to continue as he took control of the rubble around Rylo, using it to attempt one of his strongest attacks, Supreme Rock Crush. "Not so fast!"

Rylo took notice of Jura's reoccurring hand gesture and smirked as he placed his top hat on the ground once again. "Oh no you don't!" The bottom of the top hat let out a cyclone of water that circled around Rylo, protecting him from the incoming stones with relative ease. Rylo the picked up his top hat, and aimed the cyclone of water towards Jura.

"Iron Rock Wall!" Jura brought his fingers up once again, creating a thick wall of rock and iron in front of him. The power of the cyclone gave it a razor sharp edge, which allowed it to cut through about half the wall before vanishing.

"Is this your card?" Rylo asked with a smirk as a card appeared behind him and Jura; the ace of spades.

"An explosion...!" Jura thought to himself as he sensed the magic pressure building up from behind him. With his amazing reflexes, he brought his fingers up, causing an Iron Rock wall to appear behind him, just in time to protect himself from the explosion. The explosion shattered Jura's wall and the force sent the Wizard Saint stumbling forward.

"Now's your chance!" Melanie shouted.

"Get him, Rylo!" Tsami shouted from the sidelines.

Rylo pointed his top hat forward once again, this time releasing a violent gust of wind that struck Jura in the chest, now causing the heavy male to stumble back, noticeably damaged by the attack. Rylo then thought to himself about the results of the battle so far.

"Jura, snap out of it or so help me!" Ooba shouted, her irritation causing her to spin two random members around.

Jura regained his senses rather quickly, and stomped on the ground, sending spikes of rock and iron towards Rylo. "I'm not going to lose!" Jura shouted.

"Neither will I!" Rylo shouted in reply, causing another card to appear, the 8 of spades, which triggered a miniature tremor that only affected the arena, diverting the spiked away from him, but a few managed to clip his arms. "Tch..." Rylo then looked to his assistant and smirked, snapping his fingers as multiple magic circles appeared all around Jura. "I think it's time for the finishing act!"

"He's trying to end it!" Yuma shouted with widened eyes.

Jura clapped his hands together, a giant humanoid rock figure in eastern armor appearing around Jura. "Rock Mountain!" Jura exclaimed as the armor's red eyes glowing intensely as a black curtain appeared around the two, shielding them front sight, and since Rylo's assistant was still available, she fired down a large magic beam towards the heavily armored Jura. The only thing that could be seen after the collision through the black shades was a blinding light, and a powerful gust of wind. After the wind died down, the shade vanished, and Jura was standing unharmed.

"No way..." Alexander's eyes widened somewhat.

"He's unharmed..." Evanee commented with the tiniest hint of concern for Rylo at this point.

"Isn't that his strongest move...?" Flynn asked while completely astounded by Jura's skill.

"I guess I'll just have to get up close and personal then..." Rylo said, acting as though the fact his strongest attack unfazed Jura didn't bother him in the slightest. Rylo charged forward, using his break dancing background to throw a barrage of punched and kicks towards his opponent. Jura complied, entering hand to hand combat with Rylo, using his pure strength to block and counter Rylo's punches, but Rylo swayed to the side every time Jura countered. This continued for a few seconds until Jura raised his hand high and brought it down on Rylo; a swift chopping motion with so much power Rylo let out a cry of pain (despite his attempt to hold it in) and was slammed into the ground face first, the force of it creating a crater, and Rylo laid there, motionless.

"And a crushing blow by Jura! Is it over?!" Chapati shouted, nearly standing up to see if it was over.

"I can't imagine taking a hit like that..." Jenny winced at the thought of it, though she had a faint memory of a full powered Mirajane OHKO'ing her just last year.

"R-Rylo!" The entirely of Twilight Zone shouted.

"Heh, like I said, not good enough..." Lyon said with a victorious smirk.

"Damn...I felt that one..." Reve said while rolling his neck.

"He's down..." Alex said with wide eyes.

"That's all she wrote!" Byron said with a cocky grin. "I knew Iron Rock Jura was gonna win! Now pay up, those who said otherwise!"

"I don't believe this..." Tobias said while sliding his jewels over to Bryon.

"Only an idiot like you would think that," Kiora said to Tobias, who merely sighed.

"I-It looks like Rylo is down-kabo!" Mato finally managed to say after a few seconds of shock. "It looks like-"

"H-Hold on..." Rylo coughed, slowly making his way to his feet, blood trailing down his face from the hit. "W-Who said I was done..."

"Oh! Who's the idiot now?!" Tobias said with a smirk.

"He's getting up?!" Chelia's jaw dropped at Rylo's endurance, completely awestruck by it.

"Impossible!" Ooba shouted while twirling the no name member around faster.

"That's better," Evanee said with a nod.

"You have done excellent, Rylo-Dono; but it's time I ended this!" Jura shouted as he joined his hands together, causing the ground to tremble immensely. "Rumbling Mount Fuji!" The ground started to leak out magic energy under Rylo, but before it could erupt, the bell rung, signaling that the thirty minutes were up.

"T-Time!" Mato shouted, looking to the scoreboard after. "It's a draw! Both Twilight Zone and Lamia Scale gain five points!" With that, Twilight Zone now had 13 points, pushing them to first for the time being, and Lamia Scale gained 5, pushing them past Sabertooth, Quatro Cerberus, Mermaid Heel, and Fairy Tail.

"H-Heh..." Rylo gave a slight smirk. "Not bad...Jura..."

Jura gave a now of respect to Rylo, smiling after. "Excellent fight, Rylo-Dono."


	49. Chapter 49

"Bullshit!" Byron shouted as the match between Jura and Rylo ended in a tie. "Jura had that!"

"No need to get so upset, Yeesh, chill out..." Ur replied while rolling her eyes.

"I've seen better," Dait replied while waving a dismissive hand. "I want to see the next one."

"It'll be a few minutes from what I know," Tobias replied.

"Can I roast all the winners?!" Zancrow asked with a bit of irritation. "All we've been doing is watching these silly games, and in the mean time my urge to kill has been rising!"

"Shut up, Zancrow," Dait replied, snapping his fingers after, activating a curse he placed on Zancrow's body after he revived him, which resulted in Zancrow's mouth vanishing.

"...You shut him up?" Maggie asked as she blinked a few times. "Brilliant! He's got an off switch!" Zancrow, though unable to talk, conveyed his current state of emotions by narrowing his eyes at both Maggie and Dait and crossed his arms.

"And here I thought he'd never stop talking..." Ur said with a sigh.

"Hm...Hey, you, guy," Ruika said as she looked over to Byron, gaining sudden inspiration.

"Eh?" Byron turned to Ruika, pouting to himself for confirmation. "Me?"

"No the other requip mage..." Ruika let out a slightly annoyed sigh as she rolled her eyes. "Yes, you. I got an idea, and you seem competent."

"Seem?" Byron blinked a few times before shrugging. "Alright, what'cha need help with?"

.

.

Inside the infirmary, Melaine was using the little healing magic she knew with her water to help Rylo's injuries. "Not bad, eh...?" Rylo asked as he looked towards his fellow members.

"That chop looked like it hurt though..." Flynn said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Eh...I've had worse...heh..." Rylo said with a slight nod. "At least I managed to get us points against the Wizard Saint..."

"Temporary first place, I can deal." Flynn nodded.

"The next match is starting soon, don't you guys need to be out there?" Tsami inquired.

"Yeah, that's true..." Taranis gave a quick nod, but he tuned to Rylo first. "You'll be ready for tomorrow, right?"

"Of course! Nothing's gonna keep me down!" Rylo replied, wincing slightly after.

After that, the other members aside from Evanee and Melanie left the room. With a tiny smile, Evanee looked over to Rylo. "You did great today, "Ry-chan"," Evanee said as her smile then turned into a slight smirk.

"Heh, thank you, "Evanee-Senpai,"" Rylo said with a slight grin of his own at the nickname. Evanee then left the room, leaving Melanie to finish healing Rylo.

.

.

"I think that first round between Rylo Yukata and Jura is just the beginning of an intense Grand Magic Games, don't you think?" Jenny asked the other commentators.

"Oh, yes! Though Jura held the match for most of the time, Rylo did an amazing job with some of his moves!" Yajima said with a nod.

"But, now I think it's time for the second match!" Chapati shouted so the impatient crowd could roar with excitement.

"That's right-kabo!" Mato said while giving a nod. "We have Yeagar from Quatro Cerberus vs. Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail!" After the announcement, the crowd gave a large roar the second Erza's name was called.

"Titania, huh?" Yeagar said with a slight smirk. "Now that's wild."

"You got this, Yeagar!" Bacchus shouted while giving encouragement, watching as Yeagar walked into the center of the arena, standing a few yards away from Titania herself. "Remember what I told ya!"

"And remember what I told you!" Goldmine shouted, a slow smirk appearing on his lips.

"Heh, kick his ass, Erza!" Natsu shouted in excitement.

"If Titania is as strong as people claim her to be, this match should be over in about two minutes," Gaia said with a nod.

"Titania?" Adam blinked, obviously unfamiliar with the term.

"Queen of Fairies," Reve replied to Adam, but he didn't look to the large male as he did. He kept his eyes on Erza, squinting to get a good look.

"Reve, I think you may have an obsession..." Taya commented.

"I do not!" Reve replied rather defensively, thinking back to his battle with Erza and how it was a tie.

"The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one!" Kairi replied with a smile and nod.

"I don't have a problem!" Reve groaned in annoyance.

"Yeagar vs. Erza? This match should prove to be interesting," Chapati started. "Erza Scarlet is the S class requip mage from Fairy Tail, and she showed just how strong she was last year when she single handedly took down all 100 monsters in last years event!"

"100 monsters?" Dait scoffed, almost feeling insulted by the term. "Let's see her take down 100 of my demons, and then we'll talk...though I doubt she'd get past 10. Kehehe..."

"Titania..." Byron's tone and facial expression darkened immediately.

"She's a strong mage, and I have a lot of respect for her," Yajima nodded. "But, I am curious to see how Yeagar will react to this battle."

"Are both fighters ready?!" Mato asked both Erza and Yeagar, who gave nods of approval. "Begin!"

"Kanso!" Erza immediately started off by holding her hand out as she sprinted forward, requipping a simple blade.

"Heh, this should be wild!" Yeagar said with a smirk, dashing forward after. Though he had no weapon, the plant mage's smirk widened as he used his plant magic to his advantage, drawing up vines from the ground below Erza to wrap around her feet.

"What..?" Erza immediately noticed the vines and slashed her sword down, getting rid of them as quickly as they appeared, though Yeagar used this few second window to throw a punch at Erza, but the scarlet haired mage brought her arm up, blocking the punch just before it connected. Erza shifted her body to throw a kick, but as she swung, the momentum was stopped by a few more vines jutting out from the ground, wrapping around her leg. "Vines...?" Erza thought to herself as she moved to slash the vines away again, but Yeagar landed the first hit by landing a punch to Erza's face, sending the requip mage sliding back as the vines released.

"And Yeagar lands the first hit!" Jenny shouted.

"She's slipping up already..." Reve said with a smirk.

"Or maybe the puppy just got a harsher bite," Calium replied to Reve. "What have I told you about underestimating your opponents, Reve? That attitude of yours may cost the guild at some point."

"Tch...whatever, old man..." Reve replied while keeping his eyes on the fight.

"Nice hit, Yeagar!" Rocker shouted with a grin.

"That's just one hit!" Natsu replied to Rocker's shouting. "He won't get another!"

"He's a rowdy one..." Mavis said with a slight giggle.

"Too rowdy, sometimes..." Makarov said while rubbing his temples.

"I can see his skill has improved since last year..." Erza thought to herself as she requiped another sword, dashing towards Yeagar once again, keeping an eye on her surroundings in case Yeagar tried something.

"Power Whip!" Yeagar shouted as he held his hand forward, a magic circle appearing in front of him as a large vine whip appeared and aimed itself at Erza.

Erza brought her swords up, swaying her body to the side to avoid the whip, then brought the swords down, slashing the whip in two. Erza then jumped up, spinning her lower body around as the heel of her black boot slammed into Yeagar's jaw, causing the wild plant mage to stumble to the side.

"Come on, Yeagar! Take her down!" Blues shouted.

Erza continued her assault, aiming both of her swords down at Yeagar once again, but before she could swing, a Venus fly trap appeared from the ground under her, swallowing her whole after. "?!"

"Erza!" Cynthia's eyes widened somewhat.

"...Perhaps Master was right..." Nami said as she was Erza's battle.

"Looks like the puppies got a big bite..." Jaxon said while smirking somewhat. "Doesn't change the fact they're still puppies, though."

"Well this is a surprising turn of effects..." Gaia said while raising a brow.

Erza didn't stay in the Venus fly trap for long; she slashed her way through, now in her Flame Empress Armor. She then dashed forward once again, swinging her flaming sword towards Yeagar, but he barely managed to dodge by rolling out of the way. Two green magic circles appeared in front of Yeagar once again, sending two vines that wrapped around the arm Erza held her sword in, and her opposite leg, causing her to grit her teeth. "Heh, this is wild!" Yeagar said with a grin. Another magic circle appeared before the plant mage, unleashing yet another Power Whip, which slammed into Erza twice, but she held in any signs of pain.

"What's she doing?!" Romeo asked as he watched Erza had a hard time.

"Her opponent is a strong one," Mavis replied.

After having enough, a heavenly light surrounded Erza's body once again. "Kanso!" Erza now reappeared in her Giant's armor, the vines breaking. With a quick dash forward, Erza slammed her powerful fist into Yeagar's jaw, sending the plant mage into the wall, now in KO.

"And Yeagar goes down!" Mato shouted; Fairy Tail's points now going up to 14, placing them in first place, just one point above Twilight Zone now.

"And there goes our lead..." Flynn said with a sigh.

"Damn, he was doing good too..." Rocker sighed.

"Don't worry, he did great! Wild fight, Yeagar!" Bacchus shouted with a grin.

"She better have won," Byron said while crossing his arms. "I would hate if she lost to a simple plant mage..."

"This is going to be a rough year..." Lucy said as Erza made her way back to the Fairy Tail section.

"Everyone's been training for this, so I didn't expect it to be easy!" Cynthia said with a nod. "But isn't that the fun part?!"

"And now for the third match of the first day-kabo!" Mato exclaimed while pointing to the screen. "White Eclipse's Reve Volver vs. Rogue Cheney!"

"I wanted a shot at him..." Takeru scoffed.

"Kick his butt, Nii-San!" Skye shouted as Reve walked into the arena.

"Rogue's got this!" Sting said confidently.

"For thinks so too!" Frosch nodded in agreement.

"Oh, the gunslinger too..." Byron groaned.

"Reve Volver, one of the few people who have tied with the famous Titania! Also S class mage of White Eclipse!" Chapati nodded.

"He seems a bit cocky to me..." Jenny replied while resting her cheek on her open hand.

"I've heard he can back up his words, however," Yajima said with a nod.

"Rogue is also one half of the twin dragons of Sabertooth, one of their strongest mages! Let's see how Reve can handle this!" Chapati said in a tone that hyped up the audience.

"Are both fighters ready-kabo?" Mato asked.

"Of course," Reve replied with a smirk.

"Ready," Rogue replied.

"Begin!"

"Shadow Drive..." Rogue started off by boosting his stats, his hair spiking up, his eyes turning a blazing red, and his body became that of a shadow as he now moved from side to side in a zig zag pattern, attempting to confuse Reve.

"Third generation...?" Evanee raised an eyebrow.

"You think that's gonna work? I beat Takeru, and he's stronger than you'll ever be," Reve replied while using his precision eyes to keep up with Rogue, wasting no time in requipping an assault rifle and a shotgun in his hands, and immediately used his assault rifle to open fire on Rogue. Rogue expected the bullets to fly through his body, but to his surprise, they actually struck, causing him to slide back across the ground.

"He hit him?!" Sting asked in surprise.

"Tch...!" Rogue quickly rebounded, continuing his movements, and he engulfed his hand in shadows, swinging it towards Reve. "Shadow Dragon's Slash!"

"Heh!" Reve smirked as Rogue came back in, swaying his body back, narrowly avoiding Rogue's attack. Before Rogue could respond, Reve pointed his shotgun at Rogue's stomach, unleashing Spread Shot, the impact of the bullets almost running through Rogue, but he managed to stay okay as he flew back, marks now on his body.

"Reve's got this in the bag..." Jaxon said with a smirk.

"Come on, Rogue!" Sting shouted from the sidelines.

Rogue moved forward once again, using erratic movement to throw Reve off this time, all while gathering shadows around his foot, and when close enough, aimed an axe kick towards Reve's head. "Shadow Dragon's Claw!"

Reve kept his eyes on Rogue, making it seem as though he was lost, but when Rogue made his attack, Reve didn't react...until the last second, an extremely cocky expression on his face as he swayed his head to the right, avoiding Rogue's kick at the last second, causing Rogue to turn quickly, catching himself on the ground. Before Rogue could react again, Reve fired of his assault rifle, landing more bullets on Rogue's body. "Heh, just kidding!"

"Agh!" Rogue cried out in frustration and pain, but quickly moved into the shadows, wrapping his shadowy body around Reve, and slammed his palm into Reve's chest, unleashing a torrential blast of Shadows on the gunslinger, forcing Reve to slide back, his shirt ripped and a visible bruise on his chest. Rogue then puffed his cheeks out, and unleashed a vortex of shadows towards Reve. "Roar of the Shadow Dragon!"

"Heh..." Reve dropped his guns, allowing them to fade into the spirit world as he now requipped the infamous Reverse Slayer, clicking the trigger as he absorbed Rogue's roar, a smirk on his face.

"He...absorbed the roar?" Rufus blinked a few times, now remembering that Reve did the same thing months ago during the Fairy Tail vs. White Eclipse battle royal. "Ah...now I remember."

"Nice roar you got there, Rogue!" Reve said as he cockiest the trigger again, unleashing the roar back towards Rogue, sliding back just from the power of it. "It's got some nice power behind it!"

"What?!" Rogue's eyes widened slightly as he crossed his arms, sliding back across the ground a few feet, noticeably damaged.

"Time to wrap this up!" Reve spread his arms out, creating a multitude of guns around Rogue. "Devil's Wheel!" Rogue attempted to move, but he was too slow, and the guns let loose, creating a large smoke cloud. When the smoke cleared, Rogue was in KO.

"A-And Rogue of Sabertooth goes down!" Mato shouted.

"H-He beat Rogue?!" Yukino's eyes widened.

"Heh, that's how it's done!" Waiston said with a grin.

"WHITE ECLISPE!" The entire guild shouted. With that, White ECLISPE now had a definite first place lead with a perfect 20 points for the first day.

"How does he expect to beat me if he can't beat that cocky little shit..." Gajeel sighed somewhat at Rogue's defeat.

"Rogue..." Sting sighed as he carried Rogue off.

"That was incredible! Reve defeated Rogue while only taking one hit!" Chapati exclaimed.

"Now, it's time for the final match of the first day!" Mato grinned. "Mermaid Heel's Kagura Mikazuchi vs. Cosmic Star's Daryan Skeletalus!"

"Kagura, you're up!" Milliana said with a grin as she looked towards Kagura.

"It seems so..." Kagura gave a nod.

"Oh, I get to fight HER? I think I just died and gone to heaven..." Daryan said with hearts in his eyes.


	50. Chapter 50: The True Dragon Slayer

Kagura and Daryan stepped into the center of the arena, a few feet apart from each other, and the crowd roaring in favor of Kagura, since she was well known, and quite liked. Daryan ignored the fact the crowd was essentially against him, as he stared at Kagura, obviously checking the female out. "This is going to be greaaat…"

"Is he checking her out?" Melody blinked a few times.

"Stop that!" Milliana shouted, but her command fell upon deaf ears as hearts now appeared in Daryan's eyes.

"Daryan is an S class mage of the new, upcoming guild, Cosmic Star! From what I've heard, his magic is first generation Skeletal Dragon slaying!" Chapati explained to the crowd, which left them utterly confused.

"Skeletal dragon slaying…?" Mavis blinked a few times, completely lost.

"It's quite interesting, actually…" Makarov said, looking to Laxus after.

"It's a pain in the ass," Laxus replied, crossing his arms as he didn't even bother to look at his grandfather.

"Judging by his current attitude, it doesn't look like he's focused on the upcoming match, per se…" Yajima started while furrowing his brows. "It looks as though Kagura may have an easy time.

"Daryan…" Gaia sighed heavily, bringing a hand to her face from embarrassment.

"He'll be fine, don't worry," Magnus said with a nod.

"So, ace of Mermaid Heel, eh?" Daryan asked while straightening up.

"That is right," Kagura said with a nod.

"Damn you are fine…" Daryan said with a firm nod.

"Excuse me…?" Kagura raised a brow.

"You heard me. Alright, how about a bet, me and you?" Daryan said while stretching, limbering himself up.

"I don't have time for such petty bets…" Kagura replied, holding in a sigh of annoyance.

"You had a bet with Yukino just last year!" Daryan protested.

"That was a bet for our lives…" Kagura responded.

"Alright, a bet for your live then, eh…?" Daryan started.

"He's not going to…" Alex's eyes widened.

"There are all kinds of people out there, huh…?" Cynthia said with an innocent expression.

"You want to be your life?" Kagura asked while the crowd fell silent.

"Sure, my life, if you win, is yours; but, if you lose, you HAVE to go on a date with me, alright?" Daryan nodded sternly.

"He's an idiot…" Evanee said while letting out a groan of annoyance.

"I don't believe this guy…" Luke stated while shaking his head.

"Don't fight his logic either," Magnus shouted to Kagura. "It's better to just go with it."

"Tch…fine…I'll accept…" Kagura gave up the talk, now sliding into an offensive stance as she held her sheathed blade out.

"A-Are both fighters finale ready-kabo?" Mato asked as he looked back and forth between the two soon to be combatants.

"Ready," Kagura said with a nod.

"Heh, playing with sharp objects, are we? Well, if it's as sharp as your looks, I think this'll be fun…" Daryan smirked slightly and held his hand out, a tan magic circle appearing, which created a several foot long bone in Daryan's hand, which he twirled around a few times before getting into a battle ready position. "Cosmic Star's Daryan Skeletalus! Ready for battle!"

"Was the intro really necessary…?" Alex asked with a sigh.

"Begin!" Mato shouted.

Kagura made the first move, using her Gravity Change magic immediately, weighing down the opposing Dragon Slayer, mainly to catch him off guard. Kagura then sprinted forward, gripping her blade tightly as she then jumped into the air, swinging her blade down towards Daryan.

"Alright, let's get start-!" Daryan started, but before he could actually finish, he sudden found himself on a knee from the gravity. He was unfazed, however, as he brought his bone up quickly in defense, easily blocking Kagura's attack, though the ground under him cratered a few feet due to the sheer force of it. Kagura flipped back after, gaining a few feet of distance between the two, planning her next plan of attack afterwards. Though, she was surprised as Daryan managed to fight through the increased gravity, and sprinted towards her, aiming a swing, but she managed to block it just as he did hers, sliding back a few feet across the ground after. "Heh, you really thin gravity's gonna help you win this?" Daryan asked as a slow smirk appeared on his face. Right after that, within the next second, he ducked slow, attempting a powerful sweep kick on Kagura's ankles. He didn't expect much from the attack, but the least he expected was to trip the gravity mage up a little bit.

"I won't win just with gravity," Kagura replied, unable to help but ignore Daryan's question despite not being one for small talk during battle. She forgot the question right after, however, as she found that she was suddenly falling back; the leg sweep connected. However, since Kagura had amazing agility, she flipped, catching herself, and landed in her normal battle position, almost as if nothing happened. Kagura then bent her knees, gripping her blade tightly as she decreased the gravity around her person, thus increasing her speed as a result. She sprinted forward, aiming to use this speed to throw Daryan off guard, and aim multiple slashes at the dragon slayer, all of which powerful enough to shatter high defenses such as Erza's Adamantine Armor.

Daryan merely smirked as Kagura came in; he had no intentions of taking any hits, so he sprinted forward as well, using his bone as a pole vault, keeping it in his hands as he launched himself over an attacking Kagura, who was surprised she missed. Seeing the perfect opportunity to attack, Daryan did so, puffing his cheeks out, throwing his head forward seconds later as he unleashed a tornado of bones that sped towards Kagura. "Roar of the Skeletal Dragon!"

"Not so fast…" Kagura replied in a quiet whisper, using her decreased gravity to propel herself high into the air, higher than Daryan, and attempted another downward swing at the dragon slayer, but Daryan proved he had quick reflexes, turning just in time to block Kagura's strike, a miniature shockwave occurring from the two weapons meeting. After that, the two flipped, landing on opposite sides of the arena.

"So far this battle can go either way, as proven when Daryan landed the leg sweep, but it proved to be nothing for Kagura! Which way will this battle turn!?" Chapati asked while hyping himself, and the crowd up as a result.

"Daryan's got this…" Magnus simply replied.

"Of course he does! Goooo Daryan!" Alex shouted while moving her arms energetically.

"Go, GO GO Daryan let's go!" Hiruka shouted while clapping a few times; the exceed was obviously overly excited about this.

"The fact he's lasting this long against someone like Kagura is amazing…" Erza thought to herself.

"Alright, how about we amp this up a bit, eh?" Daryan said with a smirk as he brought his hand down, bringing it up slowly as four tan magic circles appeared on the ground. From the circles, four skeleton warriors rose from the grave, equipped with swords and shields.

"He raised the dead?!" Melody asked as her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"King of the undead! That's what they call me!" Daryan replied.

"I had my doubts about this magic…" Yajima started. "But, I can see it's quite effective…" He then nodded, showing interest and approval to both Daryan and his magic.

"It's quite flexible! It's really cool too!" Jenny replied to Yajima with sparkles in her eyes.

"Now!" Daryan started as he pointed his finger forward. "Charge!" The warriors complied with Daryan's command, charging with their swords at the ready.

"Even more annoying…" Kagura though to herself as she sprinted forward, simply slashing the skeletons with her blade, sending them all back to the grave as quickly as they rose, continuing her sprint as she now went for Daryan.

"That's…not good…" Daryan blinked a few times before snapping out it, hurling the bone in his hands at Kagura, which would eventually come back as a boomerang, though Kagura was unaware of this fact as she merely swayed out of the way of the incoming bone, continuing her sprint. "Why do I always miss that!?" Daryan asked himself, though he was too distracted to see the incoming Kagura, which resulted in a hit that slammed into his side, causing Daryan to tumble across the ground a few feet. Kagura then went in for the finishing blow, but before she could manage such a thing, the boomerang bone struck her in the back of the head, throwing her off as Daryan now rolled to the side, grabbing the bone and hopping up, a smirk on his face.

"Ugh…" Kagura rubbed the back of her head, highly annoyed at Daryan by this point in time.

"She's upset that he wasn't an easy opponent like he portrayed himself to be," Gaia started. "And now she's paying the price for it…either that, or since Daryan's been winning since it started, she's annoyed. Either way, she's not winning this."

"That's because Daryan is the strongest, duh!" Hiruka nodded.

"Alright, I think that concludes my analysis." Daryan nodded as his smirk started to grow slowly.

"Anaylsis…? Kagura asked as she slowly slid into an offensive stance once again, ready to move once Daryan made a move.

"You see…" Daryan started, but before he continued he turned around causing a large tan magic circle to appear in front of him, ten times the diameter of the previous circles. From the large circle, a fifty foot monstrosity of a skeleton towered into the sky, Daryan now standing on the skeletons left shoulder. "I know the human antimony like the back of my hand! It was a part of me becoming a dragon slayer!"

"W-What is THAT?!" Alex asked in utter amazement.

"He's completely serious…" Magnus replied.

"What's that have to do with this battle?!" Kagura replied as she lunged forward towards the skeleton.

"It means, Mikazuchi that you're out of luck!" Daryan shouted out as the skeleton reared its left fist back, throwing it down towards the Mermaid.

"I haven't relied on luck since the moment I was born…" Kagura replied as she jumped up, avoiding the fist the skeleton threw, and now ran up its left arm. "Everything that's happened has been the result of my choices! It's time to finish this!" Kagura shouted out, jumping high once she got close enough, now a few feet away from Daryan. But, Daryan beat her to the swing, and slammed is bone right between her neck and shoulder; that's when everything froze. Kagura's eyes widened as she dropped her blade, falling to the ground on her back, motionless, but still conscious; she was defeated.

"S-SHE LOST?!" Milliana's eyes widened as the crowd, and Mermaid Heel went into shock.

"U-Unbelievable…!" Jenny spoke with her mouth hanging open, though no one could blame her.

"He defeated her…" Erza was taken aback by this, unable to believe what she was witnessing.

"I knew he would win!" Hiruka shouted.

Everyone could feel the moral of Mermaid Heel dropping at the sight of their ace defeated; Daryan's large skeleton faded into nothing, along with the bone he had been using as he hit the ground, landing on his feet with a smirk. "That's a rather nice pressure point you have right there; it's a shame for you that I was able to exploit it to win. And that, my friends, is the power of a TRUE dragon slayer!"

"What do you mean by a TRUE dragon slayer?" Natsu shouted.

"Oh…you don't know, that's right…I suppose I'll have to indulge you." Daryan's smirk turned into a rather creepy grin ever so slowly.

"Oh, this isn't going to turn out well I can already tell…" Magnus blinked a few times.

"Oh, I love this story!" Hiruka nodded frantically as he looked towards his partner attentively.

"You see…you third generation dragon slayers, well, most of you, I assume, have killed a dragon right? No…let me rephrase that…you killed a SICK and WEAK dragon," Daryan said with a nod.

"Only because they wanted us to!" Sting shouted rather defensively.

"Bullshit! Anyone can defeat a weakened opponent! You see, I am a TRUE dragon slayer! Meaning that I, Daryan Skeletalus, had killed a dragon at full power!" Daryan exclaimed, resulting in audible gasp from everyone. "You see, I had knowledge that the dragons would be leaving on the seventh day of the seventh month on X777! And I adored my dragon ever so dearly, so I did the only thing I could do to make sure he wouldn't leave me; eat bones. And that's exactly what I did…I ate his bones."

"A-A dragon…" Gaia's eyes widened, completely taken aback even more than everyone else, being a dragon herself. Her expression told those who knew her secret that she was unaware of this.

"He killed a dragon…?" Adam asked while raising a brow, interested to see how someone such as Daryan was capable of such a feat.

"D-D-D-Daryan has just admitted to killing a full powered dragon!?" Chapati spoke in disbelief, and not a single person around could blame him for speaking that way.

"The perfume of this man has turned bitter...sour..." Ichiya commented from the side, his eyes narrowing. "Men..."

"YOU DID WHAT…?" Natsu asked as he started to move forward in anger, but Lucy gripped his arm tightly, preventing him from moving.

"YOU HEAD ME DRAGNEEL!" Daryan replied to Natsu's shouting, looking around at all the looks of disbelief. "You don't believe me? " Daryan shrugged, snapping his fingers after, which created a magic circle in the air; the magic circle then dropped full sized dragon head skeleton on the ground. "I kept the head, so that way he'd stay with me forever, love right?"

"That's not what love is…" Chelia said while frowning deeply at the sigh before her.

"YOU…" Sting clenched his fist, unable to believe what he was seeing. Even Rouge, who usually opted not to show so much emotion was unable to hold back the anger rising within him as he clenched his fist alongside Sting, but he kept silent.

"How could you…" Selene clenched her fist, diamonds starting to coat it as she barely managed to keep a lid over her anger.

"Heh, I like this one!" Dait said with a chuckle. "Killing his own foster dragon with no remorse, then showing it off and he's even got proof."

"So the bloke really did kill a dragon then, eh?" Maggie asked while crossing her arms.

"Oh, and now it's time for a reality check for you Dragon slayer; your dragons? Yeah, stop looking for them, because they aren't coming back; ever. So stop looking for them, because they ARE GONE, NEVER COMING BACK! IF they really cared about you, they wouldn't have left you right!? As for your weak sick dragons, you shouldn't have any pride or whatever because you slayed them; how can they even be considered dragons at that point?" Daryan nodded, but his comment really hit home for the other dragon slayers who could barely hold back their boiling anger, especially after that.

"YOU BASTARD!" Natsu tried to leap forward, but multiple members pinned him down to the ground before he could even try.

"Natsu, chill out!" Gray shouted.

"G-Grandney…" Wendy sniffed as tears started to appear in her eyes; she always thought what Daryan just said was possibly true, but she didn't want to believe it.

"W-Wendy…" Cynthia's eyes widened at the sight of her crying friend, which caused her to gain hatred for Daryan for making her cry.

"Tch…Like I cared about that dragon anyway…" Gajeel crossed his arms, growling as he spoke. Though it didn't seem like he was going to lunge, he was going to, but Levy grabbed his arm quickly, frantically shaking her head.

"Don't do it, Gajeel..." Levy pleaded.

"THAT'S IT! I'M KILLING THAT CRETIN!" Heather shouted, poisonous fumes emitting from her body as she attempted to lung herself at Daryan, completely enraged that he had the audacity to speak of dragons that way, but Luke and Kairi had their arms wrapped around the poisonous woman, holding her back while coughing from the poison.

"H-Heather…he's not worth it!" Luke shouted while coughing from the poison.

"How dare you talk about Tunundra like that?!" Waitson roared, but he too was held back by Reve, Kuro, and Zalen.

"W-Waiston! He's not worth it! Not at all!" Kuro shouted.

"S-Selene! Relax, he isn't worth the effort!" Takeru shouted while he and Aira held the enraged Dragon slayer back.

"I'LL DROWN YOU!" Blues shouted, struggling desperately to escape the attempts of his guild members holding him back.

"Blues, he's not wild enough! Don't do it!" Bacchus shouted.

"Aquatica isn't coming back…" Tears started to fall down Melanie's eyes, which quickly turned into a river as she bursts out crying.

Evanee, though quiet, hit the wall, using it as an outlet for her anger, unable to come up with any words at the time. "…."

"Oh, the reactions are priceless!" Maggie said while laughing, unable to hold it in.

"Wah wah wah! Is all I'm hearing!" Kiora shouted while holding her stomach from laughing so hard.

"J-Jellal..." Meredy looked to Jellal and Ultear, wondering about their input on the matter, however, neither of them had anything to say about it.

"Oh, quit your crying, and accept the facts," Daryan replied while waving a dismissive hand.

"I-I think that's enough for today!" Mato shouted as he attempted to divert everyone's attention to the scoreboard. White Eclipse was in the lead with a perfect 20 for the first day, followed by Cosmic star with 16, Fairy Tail 14, Twilight Zone 13, Lamia Scale 5, Mermaid Heel 4, Quatro Cerberus with 2, and Sabertooth with only one point to their name so far, a dramatic difference between this year and the year before. "And that is the end of the first day of the Grand Magic Games! We'll see everyone again tomorrow-kabo!"

"Heh…" Daryan turned, placing his hands in his pockets as he started to walk off, while Kagura was just starting to get up. "Remember our bet, sweet cheeks. I'll see you soon. And that, my friends, is how the Star defeated the Mermaid."


	51. Chapter 51: Ambush

It was now night time in the city of Crocus. The hype from the first day of the Grand Magic Games calmed down most of the people watching, so the streets were rather quiet. In Bar Sun, members of White Eclipse, Fairy Tail, and Qautro Cerberus enjoyed the rest of their night before day two of the games started. It was evident that most of the dragon slayers present were still seething with anger from Daryan's speech hours before. "Tch…" Natsu was obviously the most annoyed and irritated, refusing to talk to most people while he tapped his foot on the floor, crossing his arms as he sat at a table.

"Natsu, are you still mad?" Lucy asked while gently placing a hand on Natsu's shoulder. Lucy could feel the tension in Natsu's body, so she wanted to be careful not to upset him any farther.

"I'm fine," Natsu replied rather shortly. "I'll tear that asshole apart before the games end, just wait."

"Gajeel, is everything okay?" Levy asked the iron dragon slayer, who just let out a grunt, continuing with his piece of iron that he was eating, not giving the script mage a response.

"That guild is filled with characters…" Makarov said while letting out a sigh.

"Is it true?" Wendy asked Makarov, looking towards the master with a look that said she could burst into tears with the wrong phrasing. "Is she not coming back…?"

"O-of course it's not true!" Makarov replied, though he honestly couldn't shake what Daryan said off as false. "Your dragon, along with all the others, will return one day."

"That better be true…" Waiston commented from the other side of the bar, chewing on a piece of ice aggressively.

"I've never seen someone eat ice with such aggression…" Cynthia blinked a few times.

"He's not worth it, ya know," Bacchus replied while taking a seat at the bar, next to Cana, ordering himself a drink as usual. "He'll get what's coming to 'im soon enough."

"I agree, people like that usual get their just desserts in due time, heh," Jack smirked slightly before taking a seat next to Bacchus.

"Jack? You son of a bitch, how've ya been!?" Bacchus exclaimed with a friendly grin.

"You know each other?" Cana blinked a few times as she ordered herself a drink.

"Damn right! Only person I know who could probably outdrink me," Bacchus said with a smirk. "Probably."

"Is that a challenge I hear?" Jack said with a smirk.

"Oi! Don't leave me out of this one!" Cana said while slamming her current mug onto the table.

"Anyway…" Mirajane said while diverting the subject to a different matter. "We're in third place for now."

"Just for now!" Romeo said with a large grin. "But just wait, Fairy Tail will end up on top once again!"

"That's the spirit!" Macao said while patting his son on the shoulder, a proud grin on his face. "We managed to win last time, so this year won't be any different!"

"I think you might wanna get those delusions outta your head, old man…" Reve said with a smirk, though Taya quickly thwacked the gunslinger on the top of his head. "Ow! What'd you do that for!?"

"We're not here to cause fights, Reve," Taya replied while crossing her arms. "The games are only going to get tougher from here, so we need to think on who will be taking on the next event."

"Tch, strategy, fine…" Reve let out a sigh; Reve then looked over, seeing Kairi's attempt to have Heather forget about the incident by forcing a the contents of a bottle of alcohol down the slayer's throat, causing her to succumb to complete intoxication. "…I'm going to ignore that."

"They're both drunk…" Luke said with a sigh.

Amongst all the talking, Cynthia started to wander off, looking around for something that could cheer her members up. As she did so, she noticed a letter slide in under the door. "Huh?" Cynthia opened the door somewhat, though she didn't see anyone there. "That's odd…" She then looked down, picking up the letter. "Addressed to…Gray Fullbuster? Is this another love note from Juvia?" With a sigh, Cynthia looked around for Gray, only to be proven wrong as Juvia sat herself right next to her beloved ice mage, nearly smothering him with affection he really didn't want. "Gray!" Cynthia called out to the mage, causing him to turn around hurriedly.

"Huh? What is it?" Gray asked as he looked towards Cynthia.

"This is for you!" Cynthia exclaimed while holding out the letter, though Juvia started to seethe with rage and jealously.

"Is this a love letter from a love rival!?" Juvia growled.

"…I don't read other people's stuff…" Cynthia replied while taking a casual step back away from Juvia while Gray took the letter.

"Huh…?" Gray raised a brow as he read the letter. The handwriting was familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out whose hand writing it was. Gray then stood up, and began to walk outside. "I'll be back."

"Juvia will come to!" Juvia started after Gray, but she found her feet frozen to the floor as Gray walked out. "Gray-samaaaa! Come back to Juvia!"

"You really need to stop that…" Cynthia mumbled.

.

.

Erza visited Mermaid Heel's room in the hotel. She had multiple things she wanted to discuss with Kagura. Erza knocked on the room down loud enough for anyone to hear, and it opened slowly, and to her surprise, Melody was the one who answer, causing Erza's eyes to widen somewhat, but she quickly regained her composure. "Is Kagura in there?"

"Hm? Kagura? You're her friend, right?" Melody asked as her eyes narrowed. "Have we met before…you seem awfully familiar…Oh, I'm sorry, you wanna see her, don't you? Well, she's not exactly in the greatest of moods, so…don't say I didn't warn ya!" With a nod, Melody opened the door, skipping out of the room as she went somewhere else. Erza stepped inside, closing the door behind her. On the bed, sitting up, was Kagura; amazingly, there were no bandages and such around her person; not a scratch as on the mermaid.

"Erza," Kagura replied at the sound of the door closing as she averted her eyes from the scarlet haired mage to the window outside, pretending to admire the beautiful night sky.

"Are you okay?" Erza asked while leaning on the wall somewhat.

"I'm fine," Kagura replied, obviously too prideful to admit otherwise. "What did you come in here for?"

"This was one of them…and secondly, I wanted to talk to you about Melody." Erza replied as her face gained a somewhat serious expression.

"Melody?" Kagura blinked, turning her head to face Erza with a somewhat confused expression. "What about her? She's been a part of this guild after she assisted me during Grimoire Heart's attack."

"What…?" Erza shook her head slowly. "That's not right…that was the Melody who was a part of a dark guild almost a year ago; she participated in the operation that led to my defeat…and another one weeks later which White Eclipse and Fairy Tail put a stop to."

"This is the first time I'm hearing about this…" Kagura crossed her arms, looking to Erza with somewhat disbelief. "When I found her, she had no recollection on her who she was, she could only remember her name and magic."

"What…?" Erza blinked a few times. "She lost her memory…?"

.

.

Gray walked down the unusually quiet streets of Crocus, not paying attention to where he was going, which resulted in him bumping into none other than his rival, Lyon. "Oi!" Gray shouted, feeling as though Lyon was at fault even though it was his fault. "Watch where you're going!"

"Me?!" Lyon narrowed his eyes at Gray, snarling somewhat. "You're the one who bumped into me, you idiot!"

"Yeah, you!" Gray shouted, taking his hands out of his coat pockets.

"What's going on here…?" Ultear asked as she approached the two ice make mages. Gray was thoroughly surprised to see Ultear, while Lyon had no idea on who she was.

"Who is this?" Lyon asked Gray.

"You don't know?" Gray sighed.

"I heard some fighting…" Ultear replied.

"Those two never learned when to stop fighting…" Ur sighed as she walked out of the shadows; her very appearance shocking the three mages before her.

"W-What!?" Gray's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight of his former teacher.

"U-Ur…?!"

.

.

Back at Bar Sun, Cana was out cold from the drinking battle, while Bacchus and Jack were still going, both swaying in their seats; the match could've gone either way at this point, but both remaining contestants passed out on the table, swirls in their eyes from intoxication. "W-Wild…" Bacchus managed to whisper before passing out completely.

"Well…that was a little more entertaining than I thought it was going to be…" Reve blinked a few times, and then yawned. "Alright, it's starting to get late, White Eclipse, let's head back to the hotel, we're gonna need rest for the day."

"Oi…Gimme a sec…" Luke said while he picked up the intoxicated Heather at this point, carrying her bridal style. "Who wants to get the other one?"

"I will!" Skye replied immediately, running over to Kairi and lifted her up. "Ready!"

"See you chumps tomorrow," Reve said as he dragged Jack out, White Eclipse following.

"It's not that late…" Cynthia frowned a little. "We can spend some more time out, right? I don't wanna go to bed yet!"

"I dunno about you guys…" Lucy stood up while stretching, giving a quiet yawn as she did so. "But I'm beat…I'm gonna head back early, okay?"

"Stay safe, Lucy-san!" Wendy nodded while giving a smile.

"I will! See you guys tomorrow!" Lucy gave her usual smile and left Bar Sun, beginning her trek back to the hotel, whistling to herself as she walked through the quiet streets without a care in the world. Her carefree attitude for the night quickly vanished with an unknown figure shoulder tackled her into the nearby alley, causing the celestial mage to let out a surprised and pained yelp as she tumbled across the ground, but she managed to catch herself, hopping up as she looked for her assailant. "Who!?" Before Lucy could see her attacker again, a funnel of flames came her way, but she quickly rolled out of the way, now looking in the direction of which the attack came from.

"You missed…" Ruika sighed somewhat as she walked out of the shadows, shaking her head to her spirit, Draco, which was a dragon, but in a humanoid form.

"Oh well excuse me!" The hot headed spirit replied.

"Y-You're?!" Lucy's eyes widened as she recognized her attacker from several months ago during the Fiore's End crisis.

"Ugh, you're so annoying…Don't worry, I'll make this quick. Ruika pointed towards Lucy once again, commanding Draco to unleash another funnel of fire towards Lucy.

Lucy just got her bearings straight, so she was able to jump the side, avoiding the flames once again. She attempted to make an escape by heading to the entrance of the alleyway first to call for backup, but she comically slammed into a rune wall, comically sliding down the wall before standing up. "What the heck!?"

"Trying to run away, are we? Good luck with that, that Rune Barrier isn't going down until this battle is over, read it for yourself," Ruika said with a slight smirk.

"This barrier won't go down until one of the Celestial Spirit mages within it goes down?" Lucty read, her eyes widening once again. "Who did this?!"

"That would be me, Heartfilia," Tobias replied from the rooftop above. "I've been studying some rune magic, and I'm glad I get to see its first use a success!"

"Tobias, shut up," Ruika demanded. "You're giving me a headache."

"I can't even brag anymore now…yeesh…" Tobias sighed. "Welp, don't fuck up, Ruika," Tobias nodded, and then vanished from sight.

"I guess you really want to fight, huh?" Lucy asked as she placed a hand on her waist, reaching for her key pouch.

"Yes, it only took you five minutes to realize it! Gosh…" Ruika sighed.

"Alright, fine, I'll give you a fight!" Lucy shouted as she pulled out a key. "Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!" The key in Lucy's possession gave off a golden shimmer, seconds later Taurus rose from the ground with a confident moo.

"Oh, it's this one," Ruika tilted her head somewhat. "Draco, get rid of it."

"Yeah, yeah," Draco replied before unleashing yet another funnel of flames towards Lucy and her spirit.

"Taurus!" Lucy shouted.

"I'll do anything to protect Lucy-sama and her nice body!" Taurus shouted while reaching behind his back, pulling out his large axe and swung it forward, using Draco's flames the coat the axe with fire. "MOOO!" Taurus then swung his flaming axe down towards Ruika and Draco.

"Annoying spirit…" Ruika groaned somewhat as she and her spirit jumped back, though she wasn't expecting Taurus' resulting impact with the ground to send a flaming shockwave towards them. Ruika jumped into the air once again, but Draco was too slow to dodge, so he slid back a little, taking the brunt of the attack. "Draco, quit messing around!" Ruika shouted. Draco didn't respond, but instead he coated his fist in fire magic and dashed towards Taurus, landing a potent haymaker to the cow spirit's jaw, sending him sliding back across the ground, right next to Lucy.

"Are you okay?!" Lucy asked her trusted spirit.

"I'm fine!" Taurus replied as he rolled his neck, gripping his axe once again as he dashed towards the opposing spirit, aiming powerful blows with his earth shattering axe, but Draco managed to dodge with relative ease, much to the dismay of Lucy and her spirit.

"Grr…" Lucy eyed the opposing spirit mage, now looking down to pull out another key, but as she did so, she noticed a small shadow quickly increasing in size. When she looked up, she noticed another one of Ruika's spirits, Orion, coming down with his sword. "Ah!" Lucy shouted out as she rolled to the side, hitting the alley wall as Orion struck the ground with his blade.

"Ah, I missed..!" Orion shouted.

"Lucy-sama!" Taurus turned, but that proved to be a mistake as Draco slammed a fiery fist into Tauru's jaw, sending him sliding back across the ground once again.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" Lucy nodded, pulling out another key after. "Gate of the Scorpion, I open thee! Scorpio!" A magic circle appeared, in which Scorpio poofed out of it seconds after.

"We are!" Scorpio shouted while aiming his stinger towards Draco. "Sand Buster!" Scorpio unleashed a tornado of sand upon the dragon spirit, but Orion stepped in the way quickly, his sword changing into an almost indestructible shield, which took the hit fairly well, but Orion slid back as a result.

"He blocked it?" Lucy grit her teeth slightly and then pulled out her whip, prepared to use it if things started to go any farther south for her and her spirits.

"Pathetic…" Ruika scoffed. "I can't wait to kill you with your own keys…Draco, Orion, finish this!"

"Yes, Ruika! Anything for you!" Orion nodded; the spirit then held his sword up as Draco sprayed flames on it, lighting the sword in brilliant flames.

"Taurus, Scorpio!" Lucy shouted as she pointed forward.

"We are!" Scorpio grinned as he pointed his stinger towards Taurus, unleashing a torrent of sand in the bull's direction. Taurus then wrapped the sand around his axe, creating their signature double technique, Sandstorm Axe Aldebaran. The two spirits, Orion and Taurus lunged towards each other, sending their magically boosted weapons at each other simultaneously, which resulted in a powerful clash, only lasting for about three seconds before the power became too great, and resulted in a powerful explosion that blew all the combatants back, the spirits getting the worst of it as they all turned into golden fuzz before fading back into the spirit world.

"Scorpio…Taurus, you two helped a lot…" Lucy said with a smile and nod as her two spirits faded from Earthland for the time being.

"Tch, we're not done here!" Ruika exclaimed at Lucy, getting the blonde's attention once again.

"I know that!" Lucy replied, pulling out one key from her pouch, raising it into the air. "I can count on this one…" She thought to herself as her key began to shine brilliantly. "Gate of the-!" Before Lucy could finish, a small knife flew in from nowhere, slicing the back of her hand. With a yelp of pain and surprise, Lucy retracted her now bleeding hand, but as a result, the golden key in her hand flew and hit the ground in front of Ruika, who now smirked victoriously. "W-Who…?!"

"Ah, I see I still got my aim…" Byron smirked as he walked out of the shadows of the alleyway.

"W-What?! What's he doing here? I thought it was only us!?" Lucy winced as she covered her bleeding hand, looking towards Ruika angrily.

"The runes said they weren't going down until one of us falls," Ruika replied. "But, if someone was here before the runes came up, the rules obviously don't apply to them. You really are a stupid blonde…" Ruika shook her head and sighed after; but her expression changed into a smirk as she bent down, keeping her eyes on the distressed Lucy, and picked up the golden key resting at her feet, applying it to her own keychain. "That's better."

"H-Hey! Give that back!" Lucy shouted.

"Not a chance; that was just one out of the many I want from you," Ruika replied. "I told you that I was going to get your keys, and I'm not one to forget what I say."

A golden light appeared around Byron's hands as he requipped a scythe, identical to the grim reapers. "Oh, this is gonna be fun…" Byron's expression changed into a grin.

Lucy's eyes widened slightly as the reality of what may happen to her started to set in. "N-No…" She looked around for any signs of potential help, but that was futile. It didn't take long for the celestial spirit mage to realize that not only was she outnumbered, she was outmatched.


	52. Chapter 52: Ambush Part 2

"How are you still alive?" Gray asked in utter confusion as he looked towards Ur, his teacher.

"Still alive?" Ur merely shrugged at the question. "I think you mean how are alive," Ur replied while snickering slightly. "A very kind soul thought it nice to revive me from the ocean."

"Do you know who it was?" Lyon asked while shaking off the shock, but still had utter disbelief on his features.

"Hm, I'm afraid not…" Ur replied, though she was lying, there was no way for the three mages to tell. Ur then looked to her daughter, a softened smile on her face. "Ultear."

Ultear stared at Ur; it was the first time in years she had actually seen her own mother, and after learning how much she cared for her, she had no idea how to react or respond. "Y-You…"

"Yes, it's me, Ultear," Ur nodded, giving a sweet smile to her daughter.

"You…You're her daughter that went missing…" Lyon snapped his fingers, remembering it all now.

"This is all a dream…" Ultear convinced herself, unable to find the correct words she wanted to say.

.

.

Melody skipped around the city, looking around for a potentially open shop. She knew Kagura was upset with what happened earlier in the day, so the silver make mage felt as though she had to do at least the smallest gesture to help make her feel better. But, after a while of searching, she was unable to find anything, so with a sigh, she turned around, and started her way back to the hotel. "Ah…man…I couldn't find anything…"

"Psssh…" A voice whispered over to Melody.

"Huh…?" Melody turned around, looking in every direction to see where the voice came from.

"Over here, Melody," Veronica waved slightly as she appeared from the shadows.

"Huh…?" Melody blinked a few times, looking to Veronica with a look of confusion. "Have we…met before…you seem…awfully familiar…"

Melody's comment struck Veronica right in the heart, but the dark mage shook it off as best she could. Veronica was one who truly had no emotion when it comes to others, but she did state before that Melody was a different story, and she would have to play around Melody's memory loss until she regained it. "Oi...Yes, we have. My name is Veronica."

"...That sounds vaguely familiar..." Melody thought it over for a few seconds before shrugging. "Well, is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, there's something I want to help YOU with," Veronica responded.

"Eh? What's that?" Melody blinked a few times.

"I noticed you haven't been making use of your lightning magic...it would've worked really well with your tactics in today's event," Veronica replied.

"Lightning...magic?" Melody tilted her head in confusion. "I only know Silver Make Magic!"

"Oh?" Veronica raised a brow, then took a few steps back, gesturing for Melody to attack. "Zap me."

"...What!?" Melody's eyes widened at the odd request, so she shook her head a few times. "That's crazy! I'm not gonna zap you! I can't even zap you!"

"Zap me, Melody Silver," Veronica replied while narrowing her eyes.

"But I can't!" Melody replied, though her refusal to do so ended up causing a small yellow magic circle to appear under her feet, sending an electrical shock through her own body. "AGHAGAIBAFBOANGFOANG"

"...Or you can zap yourself...that...works too..." Veronica said while blinking a few times.

.

.

"Don't worry sweet heart! We'll make this quick!" Byron shouted as he swung his mechanical scythe at Lucy, the reach of the scythe surprised Lucy as it came dangerously close to decapitating the girl, but she reacted fast enough to evade the swipe, and only a few hairs were cut form from her head.

"This isn't good…!" Lucy said aloud as she hit the wall, using her non bleeding hand to pull another key from her pouch. "Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!" A magic circle appeared, and the cosplaying horse spirit appeared, his bow and arrows at the ready.

"How can I assist you, moshi-moshi?" Sagittarius asked.

"Take them out!" Lucy shouted as she pointed towards the two dark mages.

"As you wish moshi-moshi!" Sagittarius nodded, and then strung several arrows on his bow, releasing them in rapid succession towards Ruika and Byron.

"Oh?" Byron merely raised a brow at the incoming arrows, and his scythe changed into a gun bow. Since Byron's eyes were excellent to the point where he could easily keep up with Erza in her Flight Armor once, he aimed his gun bow at the incoming arrows, firing off rounds of pure magic energy, taking out most of the arrows that came in. "How about you, lil' lady?"

"Don't call me that," Ruik replied to Byron while rolling her eyes, using her own reflexes to evade what was left of the arrows with relative ease. It was at this time Lucy wrapped her whip around Ruika's waist, pulling her in with her uninjured hand, then pulled her injure hand back, clenching it tightly into a fist. Though injured, she swung her fist at Ruka's check, aiming for any kind of hit, but Ruika put her arm up, blocking Lucy's attempt of a punch with ease. Ruika then swung her leg at Lucy's arm, causing her to release Ruika. Using this opportunity, Ruika swung her leg at Lucy's side, causing Lucy to stagger over in that direction.

"No!" Sagittarius noticed Lucy was in danger, and immediately unleashed a rapid flurry of arrows upon the opposing spirit mage, but the arrows that he fired were all quickly shot down by Byron and his gun bow.

"Tobias said you enjoyed being an annoying pest in battles," Ruika said while dusting herself off.

"My spirits don't fight alone…" Lucy replied as she stood next to Sagittarius, pulling out her fourth key for the battle. "Gate of the Goat, I open thee! Capricorn!" Another magic seal appeared from the tip of Lucy's key, revealing the humble spirit, Capricorn/

"How much longer do we have to keep this up…" Bryon groaned, but before he could actually make a move, Capricorn flew in with an elbow to Bryon's nose, sending the requip mage stumbling back. Capricorn followed up with a powerful kick to Byron's side, sending him into the nearby wall.

"Don't lose your focus…you're almost as bad as Tobias…" Ruika shook her head as she pulled out two other keys. "Gate of the Twin Bears, I open thee. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor!" From Ruika's keys, two spirits appeared, one a large bear with an axe, similar to Taurus in stature, and a smaller ninja-like bear with two ninja swords in hand appeared.

"Four vs. three? Easy." Byron said with a smirk as a heavenly glow appeared around his hands. His gun bow vanishing, replacing the bow with power gloves and boots, increasing Byron's physical prowess by fifty percent."

"She won't last much longer," Ruika stated, and to Lucy, that was one of her greatest fears with this encounter.

"I'll show you!" Lucy shouted as she pointed her hand forward.

"Not so fast, little miss!" Byron lunged forward, beating the horse cosplayer to the punch, slamming his power glove fist into Sagittarius's face, sending the spirit crashing into the wall behind Lucy.

"Sattitarius!" Lucy's eyes widened as the spirit faded back to the spirit world. Before Lucy could do anything else, Ursa Major swung its axe down towards her, but Capricorn jumped forward, grabbing Lucy, and successfully leaping out of the way, the axe splitting the ground it traveled across.

"Careful, Lucy-sama," Capricorn nodded before setting Lucy down, only to be assaulted by Bryon seconds later, whose powerful fist landed on the goat's chin, sending him spiraling into the air before landing on his back.

"Capricorn!" Lucy shouted, preparing to move again, but before she could, Ursa Minor aimed multiple slashes at her with his blades, but Lucy somehow managed to avoid being sliced, minus a slash cutting across her side, and reared her leg back, landing her infamous Lucy Kick on the spirit, causing it to stumble back.

Byron used his knee to pin Capricorn to the ground, raising his fist high. "KNOCKOUT PUNCH!" Bryon exclaimed, mainly just for fun, however, as he slammed his fist into Capricorn's skull; the impact cratering the ground the spirit once was, but he now returned to the spirit world.

"T-This isn't good…" Lucy held her now bleeding side, breathing heavily from magic usage and exhausting.

"I think we're just about done here," Ruika said with a smirk as her two spirits stood beside her, which she sent back, figuring the battle was now over.

"She put up a longer fight than I would've thought," Byron shrugged as he took a few times forward, rearing his fist back. "Don't worry and just sleep tight, because once you close your eyes, they won't open ever again. Byron swung his fist towards Lucy, but before contact was made, a different fist struck Byron; a flaming one. The impact caused a noticeable burn mark on Byron's cheek as he slid back, obviously enraged at the surprise attack. "Who the hell!?"

"Natsu…!" Lucy's eyes widened with delight at the sight of her companion.

"How did he get past the runes?!" Ruika shouted, angrily stomping her foot on the ground.

"You have me to thank for that," Freed said as he walked around the corner, his sword out.

"And me!" Happy said while grinning. "Natsu asked me to follow Lucy just in case something happened, and I, Happy, found the source of the problem!"

"Of course…Freed Justine…" Ruika let out a low groan of annoyance. "Peasants…"

"Oh, I get it now…" Bryon said while using his knuckle to shake off the impact of Natsu's fist. "The pink haired dunce comes to the rescue of the blonde princess! It all makes sense now!"

"Shut the fuck up," Natsu replied as his hair shaded his eyes in a way that his eyes appeared a blazing red. "You think you can just attack Lucy and get away with it…"

Ruika yawned while Natsu spoke, completely uninterested in what he was saying. "Whatever, Salamander…"

"RAH!" Natsu lunged forward, mainly towards Ruika with his fist pulled back, his fire dragon slayer magic swirling around his fist as he threw it forward, but he completely forgot about the other mage standing by.

"Natsu, look out!" Freed shouted.

But it was too late, Byron slammed his fist into Natsu's cheek, sending the dragon slayer into the brick wall nearby, but he held in any sounds of pain, and immediately sprang from the wall, his fist still ignited as he now charged Byron. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!"

"Nice try, kid!" Byron shouted, catching Natsu's fist before he could through it. But, before Byron could throw his own fist, Freed landing a spinning roundhouse to Byron's face, causing Byron to stumble back. "Gah!"

"Freed…Natsu…" Lucy let out a relaxed sigh, but she then remembered that Ruika still had one of her keys, which caused her to start panicking once again. "N-Natsu! Freed! She stole one of my keys!"

"She did WHAT?!" Natsu growled, clenching his fist tightly as he started to inhale…and that was Natsu's mistake right there. A poisonous bomb hit the ground right in front of the Salamander, causing a cloud of purple, poisonous smoke to appear, though it didn't last long as Natsu accidentally inhaled the poisonous fumes, his eyes widening as he started to cough immensely, his skin starting to turn a ghostly pale color.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy ran over to Natsu, who fell to his knees, grasping his neck with both of his hands as he desperately gasped for clean air.

"Who!?" Freed looked up, only to see a ninja-like male sitting on the rooftop above. It was Horoki in one of his Warrior Takeovers.

"Ah, Horoki! When did you get here?" Byron asked with a slight grin.

"I don't remember inviting him…" Ruika let out another sigh.

"Oh, I just was just passing through when I noticed Salamander taking a deep breath, so I decided to fill his lungs with a little poison, you know?"

Natsu's eyes rolled into the back of his head, his breathing cut short as he fell on his stomach. "N-NATSU!" Lucy picked up Natsu, despite her injuries, and then looked towards the three dark mages.

"We could finish them off right here…" Byron said with a nod.

"That wasn't apart of my plan," Ruika replied. "We're leaving now that I've gotten what I wanted."

"You heard her," Horoki nodded. "It was fun, Fairy Tail, but it's time for us to take our leave." With a nod, Horoki threw a smoke bomb towards the three mages, creating a large cloud of gray smoke. When the smoke cleared, the mages were gone.

"They escaped…" Freed mumbled with a slight growl.

"That's not important right now!" Lucy shouted as her voice gained an edge of desperation. "We have to find Wendy! N-Natsu…he's not breathing…!"

"What!?" Freed's eyes widened as he rushed over to Natsu, using his sword to write some runes on Natsu's body. "This will stop the spread of poison throughout his body. Now, let's hurry to the hotel, I don't think she's asleep yet!"

"Natsu..." Happy's usual cheerful expression turned into a heavy frown at the sight of his partner down.

"R-Right!" Lucy nodded, picking up the fire dragon slayer with whatever strength she had left, and rushed over to the hotel with Freed. Freed's assumption was correct, as Wendy and Cynthia were both preparing to go to bed just like everyone else when Lucy ran into the room. "W-Wait!"

"L-Lucy-san!?" Wendy's eyes widened at the sight of her and Natsu.

"Whoa, what's going on here?!" Cynthia said as she hopped out of bed, dressed in PJs.

"Natsu's been poisoned!" Lucy replied as she set Natsu down on the nearby bed.

"I'll take care of it!" Wendy nodded, immediately running to Natsu, and placed her hands over him, a sea-green light emitting from her palms. Natsu's skin returned to normal from Wendy's treatment, and he regained consciousness slowly.

"Ugh...What the hell happened..." Natsu groaned.

"That's what I was coming in here for," Erza said as she and Mirajane walked inside the room. "Natsu, what happened to you...?"

"I was jumped..." Lucy replied, looking down as Wendy began her treatment on her as well.

"Jumped!? By who?" Mirajane's usual sweet expression replaced with a dark glare a thin purple aura appearing around her body.

"I think it was that Silent Sanctum guild...from last year, remember?" Lucy replied. "One of them...she took one of my keys..."

"Tch..." Erza growled somewhat after hearing Lucy's story.

"Luckily, Natsu and I were able to arrive on the scene before anything else happened to her," Freed nodded. "And of course, thanks to Happy scouting out the place."

"Thank you, Freed, Happy, and Natsu..." Lucy said with a nod.

"We know nothing about that guild in the first place..." Erza sighed.

"Perhaps I can shed some light on Silent Sanctum..." Jellal said as he appeared in the doorway, with Meredy of course.

"Jellal!?" Erza's eyes widened from surprise at the sight of Jellal. "I've been looking for you."

"I know," Jellal replied. "I know you have some questions, and I should start with Silent Sanctum."

"You know about that guild?" Mirajane asked while turning to face Jellal.

"They ambushed us awhile back while we were investigating..." Meredy replied.

"Their mages are powerful, not to mention they must have some sort of motive. But, they are the reason Ultear has returned, now to us after the Grimoire Heart incident, and they are also the reason Siegrain is back in power," Jellal explained.

"Can't you just get rid of him?" Erza asked while crossing her arms.

Jellal shook his head to the question. "I wish it was that simple, but I know if I were to do something such as that, they would react in a way I don't want to imagine. Their master's name is Jikan, but I don't remember the last name. He works with time magic."

"I remember..." Erza nodded. "We dealt with some of their members a few months ago..."

"During the Fiore's End crisis...?" Meredy asked while tilting her head. "It was all over the country...Jellal and I saw the entire thing."

Upon the discussion of Fiore's End, Cynthia merely averted her gaze to the ground. "It was pretty huge, wasn't it..."

"Do you know anything else?" Erza asked, but Jellal shook his head once again.

"No, I'm afraid not," Jellal replied.

"I see...well, thank you Jellal." Erza gave a nod of appreciation to the bluenette, then turned to Natsu, who was still groaning somewhat. "Are you planning on assisting us once again in the Grand Magic Games...?"

"I wish I could," Jellal started. "But, the council is all over this place, so Meredy, Ultear, and I are lying low."

"I see...we need a replacement for Natsu for the time being..." Erza sighed. "We also need someone to watch him just in case he gets ANY ideas..."

"What are you talking about!? I'm FI-" Before Natsu could finish, he started having a violent cough attack.

"He's not gonna last a second in the next day without keeling over..." Cynthia said aloud, but then an idea hit her. "OH! Erza, Erza, pick me!"

"Huh?" Freed looked over to Cynthia, feeling slightly robbed of the chance because he was going to ask.

"Cynthia? You want to participate?" Erza asked once more, just wanting to see if the young girl was serious about this.

"That's right!" Cynthia nodded a few times. "B Team wasn't so successful, and I want to do my best as a member of Fairy Tail to make up for it! Pleassssse!"

"Alright, you can replace Natsu for the time being," Erza said with a soft smile and a nod.

"I'll watch Natsu," Lucy nodded. "It's the least I can do for his help today."

"I'll help you, Lucy," Mirajane said with a nod. "We can at least bring him to the infirmary at the stadium. I know he wouldn't be too happy if he missed a single thing that happens tomorrow."

"I'll assist as well." Freed interjected. "I'll create a rune barrier just in case."

"So...who's going to replace Mira-san?" Wendy asked.

"Gieheh..." Gajeel walked into the room, a confident smirk on his face. "I'll take the spot."

.

.

Inside Tartaros Castle, Ruika and Byron were in the castle's library, and Ruika was frantically searching around for books to use, while Byron just stood there, watching the mage. "Uh...what are ya even lookin' for?" Byron asked while scratching his head.

"I'm looking for a book that will allow me to use Leo's key despite his contract with Lucy," Ruika replied.

"We were gunnin' for Leo? Huh, I knew my aim was good, but I didn't think it was THAT good!" Byron exclaimed while smirking to himself. Byron then looked over at the table where Ruika placed the key and picked it up, examining it. "Interesting key we got here, eh?"

"Don't touch it!" Ruika replied while snatching the key from Byron. "You'll get it dirty."

"Oh, well excuse me...It's not like I got the key for you in the first place..." Byron said while rolling his eyes.

"Whatever," Ruika merely said while examining the key, her eyes widening with shock and anger after. "YOU IDIOT!"

"What did I do?!" Byron scoffed, completely taken aback by Ruika's outburst.

"You got the wrong key!" Ruika shouted.

"No I didn't!" Byron replied rather defensively.

"Yes you did!" Ruika shoved the key in Byron's face, a highly irritated expression on her features at this point. "Does this LOOK like Leo's key to you?"

After a short pause, Byron finally answered. "Yes..."

"...Ugh." Ruika just groaned, pointing the key forward. "Who's key even is this?" The tip of the key shimmered a golden light before releasing one of Lucy's spirits; Aries. "...You can't be serious."

The nervous spirit looked around, bringing her hands to her face. "I-I'm sorry!"

"...PFFFT AHAHAHA!" Byron fell to the floor laughing at the sight. "OH, THAT'S RICH!"

"You're the one who brought this one!" Ruika shouted, quickly losing what was left of her temper.

"WAH!" Aries, obviously frightened by the environment, let loose a Wool Bomb, which covered Byron completely, though he had no complaints due to the softness of the pink wool.

"Whoa...this shit is really comfy..." Byron let out a content sigh as he closed his eyes.

"...I am so done..." Ruika let out a heavy sigh as she turned around, looking through the books once again. "I'm sure I can make this work for whatever it's worth..."


End file.
